Saving Dawn
by 13Lucky13
Summary: Itex made them suffer. It took away their lives. When Sasha only wanted to be normal, her life twisted out of control. They weren't human anymore... They were something else.
1. The Beginning

**Hi, um, I'm 13lucky13 and this is my first fic. Be nice. I warn that I do take a long time to update. And it has been awhile since I read the Maximum Ride books. I just got inspired to write today I guess. I would love reveiws. I doubt I'll get any flames but I would appreciate it if someone would take their time to beta and critique my story. Thank you! Oh, and this is not a sequel to anything!**

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_**The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins — but in the heart of its strength lies weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back.  
Love is more than a candle.**_**  
**_**Love can ignite the stars.- **_Matthew Stover

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**THE FUTURE**

"It doesn't have to be like this, Sasha." the man sighed heavily, looking down at Sasha, who sat tied to a steel chair. He stood a few feet away from her, arms crossed. "Now just tell me where she and her pack of friends are."

"You son of a-" Sasha growled.

The man cut her off. "Language, Sasha!" He spoke condescendingly.

Sasha exploded. "You lied to us all! Go ahead and say it! We all thought you were some nice, geeky guy who was only interested in marrying my mom! You lied to us..." Sasha spoke with disgust. She strained against her chair, appearing as if she wanted to attack the man. "We should've killed you when he had the chance. You and your sick daughter. I wish she didn't grow up to be like you."

"Hannah did take a liking to you. And you're beginning to sound like that serial killer friend of yours. What's his name again?"

"_He's not a killer_!"

"According to the news he killed over 500 people. And I hear he's living happily in jail. He killed your best friend, remember?" he pointed out.

She glared, wishing she could kill the man right then and now and tear him apart.

The man continued on. "And your dear boyfriend... He finally committed suicide, didn't he?"

Sasha's jaw slackened. She leaned back in her chair, eyes turning glassy with sudden salty tears. "He's... Dead?" she whispered. She hadn't know her boyfriend, the man who almost proposed to her several weeks ago, was dead. All because of her.

Her life had fallen apart.

"So are you going to tell me where they are or not, Sasha?" the man demanded to know, ignoring her small question.

Silence followed until she finally said something. "I swear I'll never tell you. So you might as well kill me now." she hissed through gritted teeth, holding back the tears. She just wanted to die already. Death seemed better than what her life was now.

He sighed again. "I'm so sorry, Sasha." His hand slipped into his pocket and he drew out a silvery gun. He aimed at Sasha's head, setting his finger on the trigger. "It shouldn't have ended this way."

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**THE PRESENT**

There were a few definite things about Sasha Cortez. First, she'd never had a boyfriend.

Second, her sister died three years ago and didn't remember her dad, so now she lived happily with her mom, Linda Cortez.

Third, she loved the ocean.

But Sasha's life was changing.

Her mom, for some reason, was becoming more distant from her. Sasha found herself with lonelier nights as her mom took more and more business trips. Her mom had always been somewhat secretive about her job but that never really bothered Sasha.

Then, after a school trip to an Itex base, everything went crazy.

Sasha had amazing abilities, but they came with a price.

Her life became a real life soap opera. She met new people and had new friends but they all had problems of their own, with tangled love triangles and odd couples (Who knew a serial killer and a bionic woman could be the perfect pair?) and heartbreak and lies and hidden truths.

And the scariest thing for Sasha is that she fell in love, too.

The boy had also become an experiment like her and somehow, someway, they fell hard and fast.

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As the sun set on one chapter of their lives, it rose on another.

This is their story.

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**Yay I'm so proud of my cliffhanger! Well, that was the beginning. It was more like a preface or something like that. It will get more interesting. I did have help writing this story. I'm not going to give away the identity of the person because they might get mad at me... XD This is kinda AU but Max and Fang do become important individuals later on and bring on big changes for our main characters. Sasha's intro and description is coming, I just got too lazy to do it now. It will be in 3rd person POV, and maybe a few 1st person parts for deeper looks at feelings and all. Thanks for reading and I would love some reveiws!**


	2. Not Another Teen Story

**Fwee! Another chapter! I'm so proud of myself! I wanted to thank ****midnightshadowwings**** and ****armed and dangerous15**** for their wonderful reviews and also for bieng my very first reviews. Thank you so much!**

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It was pure torture.

Getting out of school for a flippin' field trip was supposed to be fun. But for Sasha Cortez, it was anything but.

Standing outside the doors to the Itex building, Sasha glanced uneasily at her partner for the trip, Nick Shadows. She'd been forced to be partners with him. She hadn't asked. No, she got on the bus, and it was 3-to-a-seat it was so packed, except for one small row in the back. Swallowing, she had made her way back to the seat and sat down, refusing to look at the person beside her. She already knew who it was. Glancing through her long lusciously black hair with her milky chocolate eyes, the teen could already make out the scary thin body of Nick Shadows.

He raised his head to notice at her momentarily then look back out the window. Nick was 6 feet of total hotness, and Sasha had to admit it as the smallest blush rose over her cheeks. The other strange thing: Nick Shadows was a complete and total loner. He never talked to anyone.

And I already know what you're thinking, 'Oh, not another story where the popular girl falls for the hot emo guy in those movies that keep coming out.' There's a bit of truth in that. But you need to know, if Shadows wanted to be popular, he could be and every girl would be wanting him. Apparently, the mysteriously minded man decided to go the other way and barely make contact with anyone.

His naturally darker toned skin topped off by longer brown hair the covered his deep black eyes made him undeniably hot. Sasha turned to register him completely but a teacher stood and announced something that was more like a death sentence for the 17-year-old girl. "Students, the people you are sitting with now will be your partners for the rest of the trip. No exceptions." She called above the chatting students.

And that's how she got to be standing next to Nick outside Itex, looking like the world was about to collapse. Nick hadn't said a word the whole trip. Not even the smallest sigh_. Do I smell bad? _Sasha thought, tempted to sniff her shoulder. She held off sensing it was another problem.

The others students around her began to file in and she followed, Nick trailing behind. Sighing, she forced herself to match his slowed pace.

Inside the steel building, the group traveled through a pair of metal doors and into a steel, cold hallway with several doors on the sides of the walls. Sasha found they were the last ones behind. The rest of the group before them went through a pair of doors and just as Sasha was about to enter, Nick took off down the hallway. In a quick decision, she sprinted down the hallway after him. "What the heck are you doing?" she hissed at him once she caught up and he stopped.

He looked down at her, looking almost confused. "Getting away. You should go back." He told her in a soft voice.

She glared at him, forgetting the fact that his words just then were the first words she had ever heard him say. "No! I'm not going to get in trouble for not being with my partner." She hesitated, glancing around her to see if people were coming. "Besides, this is more interesting."

Nick grinned momentarily touched her arm gently. "You sure?" he asked. Was his voice… Compassionate? Caring? Amazingly… Nice? The thought frazzled Sasha's already mashed up thoughts. She nodded confidently and the two took off running down the hallway until they reached the most peculiar door- With a large warning sign on it saying only select people could enter.

Not hesitating, Nick pushed opened the door and they two entered the rooms that would change their lives forever.

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**Well, there it is! Please tell me if there are any mistakes. I kinda wrote this out pretty quickly so I bet there are a few. Thank you for reading and I would love some reviews!**


	3. 3XP3RIM3NT3D

**Well, I'd like to thank: **

**midnightshadowwings, ****armed and dangerous15, ****aviator301, ****MetalMyersJason, ****maxtwin15**

**Thanks all of you! **

**Oh, to answer Aviator's question, yes, the Flock will be coming in later on. Max and Fang's existence in Sasha's life will become clear later on. They have played important roles in her life. You'll see what later...**

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**_"As people say, some are born with greatness, others have it thrust upon them. I think that's a load of bull$#!&." -  
Jersey Boys_**

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The door shut behind them, squeaking and slamming. What was before them didn't surprise Sasha that much. It was a steel lab table sitting in the middle of the room, with various pieces of technology sitting around.

Nick glanced at her and she nodded. It was a silent agreement to continue on. They pulled open the next door.

Sasha had to bite her tongue to keep from cussing at what they saw next. It was cages and cages of animals. The walked along in silence, looking at the animals in shock. It was sickening to see how small the cages were for some of the larger animals.

In a sudden flash, a hungry lion's paw lashed out a struck Nick's leg. He fell on to Sasha with a cry. "Nick!" she gasped loudly, holding him up. Leaning him up against one of the surprisingly empty cages, she looked at the scratch, wincing for him. "It's pretty bad." She sympathized.

He growled something she couldn't hear but it was probably from the pain of the deep cut. Blood was running down his leg like it had no end. Sasha had to keep swallowing to not get nauseous from the sight. He was probably sucking in the pain. She'd never seen anyone that able to not make a noise when in that pain.

She gasped as she heard the door in one of the rooms behind them slam again. Then voices. "Nick, we need to move." Her voice was rushed and quiet. He nodded and with her help got on his good leg.

Together they limped behind a large cage and sat down. The door opened, creaking. Sasha had to hold in her sigh of relief. Two men entered and though she couldn't see them Sasha knew they were scientists. The men were arguing over something.

"Ben, it's too dangerous. The results could be disastrous!" one man warned.

"James, I need to do this now. Don't you realize this is the chance? All of them could be used! And no one would know! If they all died, it could be covered up." The man named Ben replied in a lower voice.

"It's a high school, not an experiment!" James snapped.

Sasha didn't hear anything more of the conversation, since they had exited through the other door. She glanced at Nick unsurely, who was barely paying attention to his painful wound since those words had been so shocking.

Sasha was disgusted. This Itex place wanted to run tests on the kids visiting from her school. No wonder the trip had been so 'exclusive'.

She turned her focus back to his scratch. The blood had begun to pool around on the floor.

"We need bandages…" she said, trying to think quickly. She knew she didn't like this one, but her shirt cut into strips would work. "My shirt!" She began to tug it off, but Nick stopped her.

"Don't, Sasha. Over there." He pointed to a roll of gauze bandage on top of a cage. He looked almost embarrassed at Sasha's selflessness in taking her shirt off to help him with it. Sasha searched his eyes then blushed. She snatched the roll and brought it back to him. Wiping away the blood on the spot she quickly began to roll it around the wound. When she was done, her hands were covered in blood but she was too freaked out by what the scientists said to care.

She stood after a moment of silently looking at each other. "Nick, we need to see what's going on! We need to go into the next room!" she begged.

"I know." Nick replied, looking up at her from the ground. He reached out for her and she pulled him up.

"Good." Sasha exhaled nervously. She helped him over the door and they pushed it open together. The door closed behind them and it took their eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness. Suddenly the lights flipped on again, blinding the two.

The scientists were standing before them, arms crossed. Sasha gasped and took Nick's hand unconsciously. They looked to the men before them fearfully. Well, Nick managed to look not very scared, unlike Sasha. Her heart wouldn't stop beating and shuddering.

The scientists approached and the two teens found themselves pushed up against the wall.

"Well, Ben, it isn't a whole school but it is two teens. Looks like we have our experiments ready." James said. "Do the girl first."

Nick growled and pushed back at Ben, who was holding him down. "You can't do that! Don't touch her!" He tried to push them over, but couldn't as Sasha let them roughly pull her into a seat.

She looked at James fearfully as he readied a syringe and attached it to a small blue dosage.

Which just happened to a have a big warning sign stamped on it.

Sasha found she could do nothing as her left arm was roughly pressed against the table. The needle was jabbed into her arm and she gasped as pain and dizziness overtook her body.

The last thing she saw was Nick giving Ben a nasty punch to his forehead before she blacked out on the table.

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**Wow! Go Nick! Well, another chapter done. Yay! I know they're short, I'll try to make them longer next time. Please review!**


	4. Sand

**Well, I'd like to thank: **

**midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight**

**Thanks all of you! I love you all!**

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Sasha awoke on the beach, laying on top of someone with their arm wrapped securely around her waist with her head on their shoulder. The person's chest was hard, muscled and warmly comforting. With a soft groan, Sasha's eyes fluttered open. She shot to her feet, screaming. Nick jumped awake and looked up at her from the ground.

"Wow, Sasha, what was that for?" he muttered.

Sasha glared at him. "You were—I was—Never mind!" she choked, realizing he had no idea of what position they had been in- the position that she found had been oddly comforting and, well, really, really nice.

The memories of the lab hit her suddenly. "Whoa, what happened back at the lab? I blacked out after you…. After you punched that guy…" she trailed off as Nick got to his feet.

He looked at her as if it was no big deal. "Yeah, I punched him. He deserved it for what they did to you." He broke out in a grin. "And he'll be hurting for a week."

Sasha sighed and shook her head. "What did they do to you?" she asked.

The grin was wiped from his face. He sighed and knelt down again, showing her the scratch. There was nothing there. No scar. No nothing. "It's gone." He said, standing up again.

Sasha stared at him. "They did something to us, didn't they?" she glanced fleetingly out onto the vast ocean. "Something's different. Those shots hurt a lot and I know they did something." Her voice increased as she spoke.

Nick stuck his hands in his pockets. He'd gone through something at the lab that Sasha hadn't, and he wasn't about to explain it.

"Sasha, I should take you home. The sun is setting and the whole school must be looking for us. Where do you live?" he asked.

"Somewhere along this beach. Let's keep walking." Sasha said, turning in one direction along the water.

The two walked in an awkward silence for a minute until Nick, unexpectedly, broke the silence. "You're acting a lot different now than at school." He said softly.

Sasha's head snapped to him, then back at the white dotted sand. "I can rarely be myself around some people." She murmured softly, barely able to be heard above the waves crashing, "But if I want friends, I have to be different sometimes. There are few people I know who understand that. I don't act like myself so often now that I'm almost becoming that other person." Her voice was sad and quiet.

"I know how you feel." Nick spoke, matching her soft tone.

"I don't know what it is, but I feel like I can talk to you. I never see you talk to anyone at school. Why?" she looked up at him.

He looked back at her and with a sigh broke away from the gaze. _You're different,_ he thought. "It's a long story. It's not one you need to know."

There was a long pause.

"I think we'll be getting to know each other well, Nick. You may not want me around, but I can't do this alone. And I need to tell you that I'm really scared right now." She was beginning to sound desperate.

"I know."

She looked immediately relieved. "Good. Thanks, Nick."

They turned to each other, a realization dawning on them.

The ice was broken now.

Nick and Sasha were friends.

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**Yay! More coming soon, maybe even tomorrow! I know this chapter was short, sorry! Please review! A 'Hello' is even loved!**


	5. Thirsty

**Well, I'd like to thank: **

**midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight**

**Thanks all of you! I love you all!**

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As they walked, Sasha began to feel dizzy, sore, and extremely dehydrated. She veered slight to the left, then to the right, and left again.

Nick gazed down on her with concern. "Are you alright? You aren't walking straight." He noted.

Sasha glanced at him, not realizing that she wasn't walking straight at all. Nick sighed and slipped an arm around her waist to keep her steady. Sasha felt herself blushing at the closeness as she was pulled towards him.

"Thanks." She said softly. She looked at the ocean beside them longingly. "It would be nice to go swimming now…" she spoke softly.

Nick shuddered involuntarily.

"What?" Sasha glanced at him.

"I… don't like water."

"You don't?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Can't swim. And... I'm afraid of it."

"…."

"It's a long story."

"Oh."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. I just never met some body who didn't like the water. I love the ocean. I scuba dive all the time."

"I don't get you people…"

Sasha laughed at that. "My house is over there," Sasha pointed to a light blue painted house with a balcony and steps leading right on to the beach. He helped her up the steps and she pushed open the sliding door, letting him come in behind her. She shut it behind him.

"This is my home. My mom's not home, she's on some business trip." She added, sounding downcast at the end.

"There are a lot of pictures..." he trailed off, glancing around.

"Why, your house doesn't?"

Nick remained silent, looking away from her.

"You should go home. Your parents are probably waiting for you."

Nick nodded stiffly. A few silent moments passed by. Sasha walked to her front door and opened it. Nick followed and stepped out onto her front porch.

He turned to her once he was outside. "Sasha, let me know on Monday if anything's happened." She nodded to him, and he turned and left, walking away slowly and fading away as the sun set, turning everything dark.

Nick Shadows somehow had the perfect last name.

Sasha went back into the kitchen and filled up a glass with water from the sink. She drank it in record time. And then she did the same thing again. And again. And again. Until she'd finished 15 glasses of water. _Is this human?_ Sasha wondered. She walked, disoriented, to the couch in the living room. There she fainted , hurting all over.

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Sasha awoke groggily on Monday morning. She'd had a horrible headache all weekend and went through almost 20 gallons of water. If you were wondering, she somehow didn't even need to go to the bathroom any more than usual.

She pulled herself out of bed and stumbled through her morning routine. Her mom was still on that dang trip of hers. Sasha didn't feel like she had anymore freedom than usual. She was soon pulling out the driveway in her blue hybrid Honda Civic (She wouldn't use any car unless it was a hybrid) and driving to school. She always came at least 15 minutes early to school to talk to friends or finish up homework.

She strolled towards her locker, pulling it open.

She heard someone behind her. "Sasha," he said softly. She turned to him, glancing around to see if anyone she knew was watching them talk. Nick was wearing dark glasses that didn't show his eyes.

"Nick, what's going on?" she asked as she closed her locker behind her.

"There's something I need to show you…" Nick sighed, stepping closer. Sasha stepped away, her back pressed against the cold metal of her locker. She clutched a book protectively to her chest as she gazed up at him. He placed a hand beside her head on the locker. To an outsider, it would have looked like he was going to kiss her. But he didn't. He pulled off the sunglasses slowly, revealing two slit amber lion's eyes. Sasha gasped, staring into his eyes in total amazement and wonder. He stepped away, sliding the sunglasses back on.

"Wh-What was that?" Sasha breathed.

"My eyes." Nick replied nonchalantly.

"But-"

"It's because of what those scientists did, Sasha."

"You aren't going to be able to wear those sunglasses all day, Nick."

"I know. That's why I have a doctor's note." Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out a neatly folded paper, unfolding it and showing it to Sasha. It was signed and filled out by a doctor named Rick Hammond. Sasha stared at him.

_"You told someone?"_

"Don't worry. I can trust him. I'll take you to meet him soon."

_"You told him about me too?"_

"Yes."

"But-"

" Sasha, will you stop freaking out? It's okay."

Sasha took in a deep breath, calming herself.

"Sasha, has anything like this happened to you yet?"

"No." she lied. She looked at the floor uncomfortably. "Look, can I talk to you at lunch?"

"Okay..."

"Where do you sit?"

"A-At the spot near the palm trees on the walkway." Nick sounded surprised. Well, he had stuttered slightly.

Sasha nodded. "Alright. See you then."

Even though the conversation was over, they stood there and stared at each other for several long moments. Nick suddenly leaned down and kissed her cheek. Sasha gasped quietly. Nick turned and left, Sasha watching him every step of the way.

She was blushing again.

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**BRING ON THE FLUFF! Tell me if you think their relationship is going to fast... Oh, and if you're wondering, Rick Hammond might just be that heartbroken surgeon I spoke about in my summary. Well, please review! A 'Hello' is even welcome and loved!**


	6. Alone

**Well, I'd like to thank: **

**midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight**

**Thanks all of you! I love you all!**

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Sasha's POV

I admit, I purposely avoided my friends today. Mostly Kasandra, my best friend, who most annoyingly could be extremely nosy when it came to my almost nonexistent love interests. It would go overboard if Kasandra found out it was Nick I was now talking to. I sighed.

Nick, the loner. I now would have preferred to call him 'a really hot guy who just happens to be unsociable occasionally.' Which was true. I had lost my appetite earlier, so I skipped buying lunch and hurried around the school to were Nick said he'd be.

Thankfully it had started sprinkling rain, which meant everyone would be inside. Well, rain should have been expected. It was southern Florida.

I set my backpack down and seated myself on the sidewalk with my back to the wall. I drew my knees in and wrapped my arms around them, setting my head on my knees as I stared out onto a small field of grass. I heard steps coming faintly and when I looked up, I saw Nick staring down at me.

The sunglasses were gone and his eyes were back to normal. I breathed a sigh of relief and sat up once again. "What happened with you eyes now? Oh, and sit down." I patted the spot next to me. He sat beside me, still looking at me with a startled- like expression.

"You… You came..." He said incredulously.

"Yes, I know." I replied. It was time to change the subject. "You aren't eating anything?"  
I asked

"You aren't eating anything." he stated in return.

"Yeah, but you're a guy, and guys are supposed to-"

"I'm not hungry. Now why aren't you eating anything? You aren't… anorexic, are you?"

"No! I'm just not hungry either. I'm just craving sushi right now." I took out a water bottle and drained it with inhuman speed. I was thirsty again.

He stared at me. "How…?"

"I'm just thirsty."

ALL POV

A sudden pain took over Nick's body. He flinched noticeably, making Sasha look at him with concern. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"It… hurts…" he managed to get out. "Sasha… Take me home."

"With my car? Don't we need to check out of the school?"

"I don't want to deal with that! Just help me!" he gasped.

Sasha groaned and got to her feet, helping him up. Rain began to splatter over the sidewalk. Her clothes were plastering to her body, making her shiver even though the weather was warm. She helped him as he staggered over to her car, throwing the door open then rounding the car to the driver's seat and sitting. Nick accidentally slammed the door. They didn't speak or look at each other as they drove away. Sasha was annoyed at him. They were leaving the school without checking out, which would make them both truants.

Nick seemed to figure out she was annoyed. "Sorry." He muttered, sitting up slowly. The pain was still there, crawling all over his body. Everything seemed to burn.

"Sorry? I'm already in enough trouble right now! When my mom finds out-"

"Sasha, shut up." Nick growled. Sasha glared at the road and her knuckles turned white with anger as she gripped the steering wheel. "Where do you live?" she asked through grit teeth.

He gave her directions as they drove and she was finally parked outside his house. He pulled himself out of the car and fell.

Sasha forgot the argument instantly and fell to her knees at his side. "Nick, are you alright?" Nick sat up and put out a hand. Sasha sighed and pulled him up once more. Wrapping an arm around him she helped him to his door. "The key?" she asked.

"Under the rug."

She bent down and pulled out the key, then unlocked the door. Nick walked inside and sat down on the couch.

Sasha glanced around. The house looked pretty empty. It was about the size of her house, which was relatively big considering the small plot of land they owned on the beach.

And what a surprise- there weren't any pictures. None. There was a painting hanging from the wall but Sasha had no interest in art. Nick sighed, sensing her surprise.

"Where are your parents?" Sasha asked.

Silence followed her question. She turned to him with a confused look.

"I don't- I don't have any parents." Nick finally managed to tell her.

Sasha stared at him. "You don't? I'm so sorry…" she sympathized. 'No wonder he has no pictures in here,' she thought. "When did they die?"

"When I was five. Or was I six? I don't remember much of it." Nick was lying. He remembered every bloody detail of his parent's murder. He saw everything.

Sasha looked at the ground. She couldn't imagine life by herself. She walked towards him and sat down on the couch. Nick was flinching in pain, but still talking.

"You live by yourself?"

"Yes."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Yes. Some other people and the teachers at school." It seemed hard for Nick to tell her all this. It wasn't like it hurt to tell her about his parent's deaths and his current situation, it hurt it another way. He thought she'd think of him differently: A helpless orphan. Until he switched to Coral Shores High School he attended a different school that was pretty far away. And he hated admitting it, but he had been 'popular', until his 'friends' found out he was an orphan and left him for good. Nick left the school immediately, and he was changed. He was too afraid to tell anyone thinking they'd leave him just the same. Would Sasha act the same?

"I'm so sorry…" Sasha murmured, looking saddened by what he was saying.

"You're sorry?" Nick sounded surprised. She didn't seem to mind. Yes, she was feeling bad for him, and he usually didn't like people being that sympathetic. But for some reason, he didn't mind that the sympathy was coming from Sasha. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault."

"I know. It's just… Nobody should have to live without their parents."

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"I should go back to school before lunch ends. I don't think anyone will notice I'm off campus already."

Nick nodded. "Yeah. I'll have that doctor call in some excuse for me."

Sasha smiled weakly. "Are you still in pain?"

"Yeah. It should go away soon."

"Will you be alright?"

"Yes, Sasha. I'll be fine." Nick assured.

"I'll come back later, okay?"

"That's fine…" Nick sounded surprised again. Before he knew her, he'd seen Sasha and everyone else as stuck-up people who just didn't care about anything but themselves. Sasha was different than he'd thought. He knew he couldn't completely judge yet since he hadn't known her for that long. He liked Sasha, though. She'd been amazingly nice with him.

He wondered if she'd figured it out yet. Did she know yet that Nick had a depression? He decided he'd think about it later. If she didn't know and found out, would she leave him? If she ever saw one of his suicide attempts what would she do?

He pulled away from his thoughts and looked at Sasha, who was still looking at him with that sad gaze. "Sasha, just go." He said softly.

Sasha turned and left immediately.

He stayed in the same position until he heard her pull out of the driveway and away. Then he lay down on the couch, groaning.

An hour later, he left his house and walked bravely to the Itex base. He was going to find those two scientists. He entered the lobby and it was just like he remembered- cold and unfeeling metal and white tile floors.

The receptionist looked up as he approached. "Yes?" she asked condescendingly. He told her he was looking for the two scientists. The woman sighed and called up another man. He wore a white coat too, but he wasn't either one of the scientists. He was tall with had small oval glasses and brown hair.

"This young man is looking for 'the two'." The receptionist told him.

The scientist looked at Nick questioningly. "Come with me." He said, turning and walking towards a hallway. Nick followed. "I'm Charley Sterling. What do you want with those two men?"

"Answers." Nick replied. The scientist glanced on him.

"They… They experimented on me and my friend." Nick explained. "I want to know what they did and why and what's going to happen to us."

The scientist sighed, and stopped walking. "Those two men are missing. They left last Friday."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't have much of a choice, do you?"

"…"

"Then tell me what's happened. Where's your friend?"

"She's not here right now."

"Well, what happened?"

Nick began to explain what had happened in the lab and the mysterious pain he'd been getting. He told him nothing had happened to Sasha, though.

"I don't know exactly what they did," Charley said. "But if you get any changes, call me. And come back here and ask for me if you have any problems." With that Charley handed him a card. "Don't go to a hospital. Nobody else can know about this. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"Good. You should go. We usually don't allow strangers here." The scientist said.

Nick didn't need to be showed the door. He left immediately, thinking about what was going on. And would Sasha actually come? Could he trust this Charley guy?

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**DUHN Duhn Duhn... So, who's this mysterious Charley Sterling dude from Itex? Is Nick going to trust him? Please review and even a 'Hello' is loved!**


	7. Changes

**Well, I'd like to thank: **

**midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight**

**Thanks all of you! I love you all!**

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Sasha had gone scuba diving once she came home after school. She just needed to get her mind off everything. But it was mostly to stop thinking about Nick for at least a second.

She was able to get right in the water at the beach and swim out about 40 feet then drop down into a beautiful reef. She equalized and became neutrally buoyant before she noticed the strangest thing: All the fish were following her. Usually all the fish, with the exception of curious yellowtail snappers, ignored her and fled when she got near.

She swallowed, heart racing. _'Am I hallucinating? Yeah... This isn't supposed to happen. I should be diving with a partner. Yeah, you're always supposed to be diving with a partner. I'm just being stupid…'_ she realized she was rambling in her head. From that thought she began to think she was going insane. She kicked a few feet back, and then fish moved hesitantly, following her every move.

She gasped, fainting, regulator falling out her mouth.

She'd lost her only air source when she was 60 feet underwater.

--------

Sasha awoke on the beach, roughly an hour later. Her lungs ached. Not yet opening her eyes, she unclipped the buoyancy device and slipped out of the jacket, leaving the tank in the sand as she sat up. She was covered in sand and was feeling pretty uncomfortable, considering she was wearing a bikini.

'I just survived underwater after fainting!' she thought with surprise. She desperately wished that her little episode with the fish was just a dream. She scrambled to her feet and scurried inside to take a shower.

She needed to see Nick now.

--------

Sometime later, Sasha was pulling into Nick's driveway. She stepped slowly to the front door, ringing the doorbell hesitantly. Nick answered.

"Yo," he said. Sasha stepped inside and Nick closed the door behind her.

"Is the pain gone?" Sasha asked, turning to him.

"Yeah."

"Oh, well I'll stay for awhile to watch." It was hardly an excuse to stay, but Sasha needed to tell him what happened. If she could find a way to say it without him thinking of her as completely crazy.

"That's fine." Nick shrugged. "Uh, make yourself at home." He gestured to the couch where they'd been before. Sasha sat down. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"Just water." Sasha replied automatically. Sasha had had no desire to drink anything but water since the Itex trip.

Nick disappeared into the kitchen and came back out seconds later with two glass cups of water. Sasha took hers and downed in quickly. She was finished before Nick even took a sip. He looked at her with a slight concern.

"What?" she said, setting the glass down on the table before them.

"Thirsty again?" Nick asked.

"Yeah."

"That's doesn't seem normal."

"If you forgot, we aren't exactly 'normal' anymore."

"Is not being normal such a bad thing?"

"Yes. People are supposed to be normal."

"What is your definition or normal?"

"Can we please stop with the interview?" she snapped.

Nick sighed and swiped her glass off the table. "I'll go get refills, Princess." He muttered standing and heading back into the kitchen, apparently annoyed. Sasha was about to talk back when she heard a muffled cry of pain along with the breaking of glass and splashing of water. The teen jumped up and dived into the kitchen, dropping to her knees at Nick's side.

He'd fallen and was in pain again. The glass cups had shattered, spilling water onto the floor. The glass shards cut into his skin, only adding to the sudden pain.

"Nick, are you alright?" she gasped. Nick couldn't reply. He groaned softly, the fiery pain everywhere again. She closed her eyes for only a few seconds to regain herself. When she opened them again, a lion lay before her.

She gasped loudly and jumped to her feet. Nick writhed in pain of the change from human to lion so quickly. The bones bending and growing and the fur replacing skin was just all too painful.

Sasha looked completely scared, back pressed against the wall in absolute fear. The lion whined softly. Sasha realized it was Nick, not some insane hallucination.

She fell back to knees at his side, just barely able to concentrate as she pressed a hand to his neck, checking for pulse. It was very faint. "C'mon, Nick. Just get onto the carpet. You need to get out of this kitchen…" she encouraged.

She was able to drag him out of the kitchen with a lot of effort and then dump him on the carpet in the living room. She went on to search for a pair of tweezers. After a minute of searching she found a first aid kit under the sink and brought it back to Nick, pulling out the tweezers. She set to work pulling out stuck shards of glass. Nick whined softly as she worked. She continued to pull out glass shards, sticky with blood, and place them in a bowl beside her. Her heart beat sped, as if she was in some kind of life-or-death situation. She had to remind herself it almost was.

When she thought she was done, she headed back to the kitchen to get a rag for cleaning off the blood. She jumped when she came back. Nick was sitting up, surprisingly fully clothed. "What was that?" she breathed, overcoming sudden shock.

"I changed into a lion, suffered immeasureable pain, got cut with glass..." he recounted boredly, getting to his feet

The teen shook her head, regaining herself. "And where did your clothes go? You turned into a lion and now your still wearing them."

He shrugged. "Must be some weird matter thing." he glanced at her. "I thought you would be freaking out by now."

Sasha sighed, ignoring his last comment. "Take off that shirt. I want to see what those cuts look like when you're human." She commanded. Nick did so obediently. Sasha got closer and looked at the cuts. "How did it feel…. Doing that?" she asked,curiously, while gingerly running her fingers over a cut on his arm. "Oh my gosh… the cuts… Half of them are already almost fully healed. Wait, lay down, there's some glass I didn't finish with."

"Sasha you don't need to-"

"I said lay down." Sasha repeated. "This is for your own dang good, you know?" she said as she picked up the tweezers and picked out the last pieces of glass. She placed the bandages from the First Aid kit on the larger cuts.

She flushed when she realized how close they were. She leaned back when she was done and just took a moment to stare at his muscular abs. The blushing teen forced herself to look away. '_Oh-my- freakin' God…_'

Nick raised an eyebrow, sitting up. "Done playing doctor yet?" he asked, putting his shirt back on.

Sasha rolled her eyes and sat up, sighing. "Nick, you just turned into a lion. We definitely aren't normal anymore."

Nick sighed as she spoke. He stood and looked away from her. "It was painful. Sasha, I don't want you to go through that."

Sasha sighed heavily. "Nick, it's going to happen soon. Things have started happening to me. I can't stop drinking water. All I want to eat is fish. I feel thirsty all day." Sasha couldn't see his expression but she saw his back go rigid. She stared at him for several long, silent moments.

Suddenly Nick lashed out and punched the wall. The wall cracked and bones snapped. Sasha jumped to her feet, rushing to his side gasping as he cried out.

"Nick! God, what are you thinking?" she yelled

"I swore to protect you. I don't want you to go through all that pain. I can't let this happen to you, Sasha. You deserve better. All of this is my fault."

Sasha shook her head, wrapping an arm around him and pushing him towards the door. His hand was totally smashed up. "Nick, you shouldn't have done that!"

"You don't understand…" he replied faintly.

She pushed him gently into the passenger seat of her car and then jumped into the driver's seat. She looked at him sadly. "I need to take you somewhere to get help." She sighed.

"Go to the Itex base."

Sasha jumped. "What?"

"Just go there. Someone will help us there." he managed to say through the pain.

Sasha groaned and within minutes they were pulling into the parking lot of the Itex base. She helped Nick inside. The receptionist only needed to take a glance then rang up Charley. Charley appeared through the doors again.

"Is this an emergency?" he asked Nick, eyes flickering to Sasha then back to Nick.

Nick showed him the hand.

"It's a broken hand."

"You said not to go to a hospital, so go be smart like you whitecoats are supposed to be and help me fix this." Nick muttered.

"Follow me." Charley said.

Sasha looked at Nick nervously. "It's alright," Nick assured her quietly, wincing. She sucked in a nervous breath as they walked behind the scientist. He opened a door for them and they came in, door closing behind them. The room was pretty empty of anything except a few folding chairs.

"Sit down." Charley commanded Nick. Nick followed the command. Sasha stood behind the chair he was in, looking unsure. "What happened?" Charley asked.

"I turned in a lion, and then somehow I broke my hand punching a wall." He glanced at Sasha, who sighed and looked at the ground.

The scientist looked surprised. "A lion? Well, apparently you can shift forms." He told them. "I'll have to set your hand. I'm not much of doctor and it will hurt a lot."

"I'll do that." Nick said, pulling his mangled hand away. "Sasha, you should go. You don't need to see this."

"I'm staying." She replied stubbornly.

Nick sighed, looked back at his hand and began to put the bones back in place. He held in the pain, but let out a few short gasps of pain. Sasha comfortingly squeezed his shoulder every time. He was soon done and Charley was creating a cast. "Well, you can't make anymore changes until it's fully healed, or else the bones will have to change again and it will just get worse. Just be careful."

"So that's it? Why don't you tell us more about this Itex place? As far as we know, it's home to a bunch of sadistic scientists who only want to run experiments innocent people."

The scientist sighed. "I can't tell you anything else, but it's time for you to leave. I need to go somewhere now and I'm trusting that you won't stay long." He flashed a glare, turned and left.

Nick stood up and turned to Sasha. She immediately hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "That was amazing, Nick."

He froze up. He slowly pushed her away. "Don't get in my way, Sasha." He growled.

Sasha gasped. She turned and fled the room, escaping out of the building and sprinting straight to her car. She thrust open the door, slammed it shut, and raced out of the parking lot, not looking behind.

As she sped away, she realized she was crying.

"Stupid Nick Shadows…" she muttered. "He's a total jerk." She usually wouldn't be crying over a boy.

But now she was.

-------

Behind her, out in front of the Itex building, Nick stood and watched her car.

"I'm sorry, Sasha."

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**Dang, what's up with Nick now? If you have any ideas/suggestions please send them! Please review and even a 'Hello' is loved! **


	8. Roses and Little Love Notes

**Well, I'd like to thank: **

**midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight**

**Thanks all of you! I love you all!**

**This chapter is kinda fluffy. Enjoy!**

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_**"I was always friends with Nick. He was an easy guy to love but hard to understand." -Frankie Valli, Jersey Boys**_

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Sasha forced herself to go to school the next day. Her unquenchable thirst for water was driving her insane. She was up almost all night. Most of it was thinking about Nick, or hating him. She wished she never had talked to him. As she pulled herself out of bed in the morning she dreaded what she would see at school.

This would be one long day.

-------

Sasha went to her locker that morning, looking around for Nick so that she could avoid him at any costs. She came later than usual just so that she didn't accidentally run into him when she was walking around.

When she opened her locker, she found a small present. It wasn't much but for a second it looked like something a person would get from a secret admirer.

On top of a book lay a red rose and note. Her name was written in a beautiful cursive on the front of the note. The red rose was perfectly cut, fresh, and had no signs of wilting. Swallowing, she flipped open the note to read it.

She didn't notice, but Nick was watching her. He was definitely guilty for what had happened. He hadn't slept at all the night before. The guilt just sat there from the moment he came home, building and growing inside of him until he couldn't take it anymore. He felt extremely odd for feeling like that. So he decided to do something about it, feeling unable to face her himself. He came to the school early and easily broke into her locker and placed a note and rose inside when no one was watching. He knew a lot about breaking in to things. He couldn't see her expression as she read it, but she hoped she would accept his apology.

_Sasha, _

_I need to tell you that I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I don't know what I was thinking. I just wanted to protect you from me. I don't think you should be around someone like me. You deserve better. I'm an empty shell and nothing will ever change that. I wish that you will understand this. I've never been good with other people and my emotions. I don't want you to get hurt because of that. I'm sorry._

_Nick Shadows_

Sasha gasped as she read the note.

Then read it over again.

And read it over a third time.

Her heart beat faster. She didn't understand what was going on with Nick. As she looked behind her, she saw the halls flooded with people once more. She hadn't even noticed the bell. In her head she felt two sides arguing over whether she should see Nick again or avoid him.

Maybe tomorrow she could make herself speak to him.

-------

After the first few periods, Nick sat in class, in his usual spot in the back corner of the room. He was drawing mindlessly.

He hadn't realized it yet, but on the clean white piece of paper he was drawing a portrait of Sasha smiling. He nearly fell out of his chair once he registered what he was doing.

She had been on his mind all day, and all of yesterday. He could barely think straight anymore. The only comforting thought was remembering her smiling at him. It made him feel all warm inside thinking about it. He both hated and enjoyed the sensation.

He skillfully finished the portrait then neatly scratched his number in a top corner.

It was his shy way of asking her out.

His fingers were shaking as he wrote down the numbers. As he finished and neatly put the paper in his backpack, he decided he'd give it to her after school.

-------

Sasha completely avoided Nick that day. At lunch, she refused to look for him and made sure she didn't see him at all between classes. She was almost scared of him now. Scared and attracted, in a weird way.

She wanted to bang her head against a wall. She usually never worried about boys at all. Unless it was Bobby Herd, the hottest guy at school, in Sasha's eyes. Bobby was popular and Sasha had him as a contact on her cell phone but could never make enough courage to call him up.

The rest of the day flew by without any problems. She stood outside her locker one last time before leaving after school, just taking a few moments to stare at the rose. She heard someone behind her and whirled around.

Bobby stood there, looking almost embarrassed. She gasped quietly. "Hey, Sasha!" Bobby greeted.

"Hey." She said, heart racing.

"I just wanted to know," Bobby paused, scratching the back of his head nervously. "If you would go out with me tonight."

Sasha's eyes widened. "Yes! I'll definitely go out with you!" she practically yelled. She wanted to jump with joy. Her crush was asking her out!

Sasha knew she had a reputation at school as being the most available hottie single. And for once she hoped tonight she would finally get that long anticipated first kiss.

She didn't notice, since she was too busy looking at Bobby as he stared back at her, but Nick saw every thing. He'd been about to give her the picture with his number on it, and then he saw Bobby there. His heart sank as he heard the conversation. Sasha was going to go out with Bobby.

He raced by, crumbling the picture into a ball and throwing it into a trash can. He couldn't understand why he felt so angry and sad all at the same time. She never noticed him as she passed.

Bobby nodded enthusiastically, looking relieved. "I'll call you later, then?" he said smoothly.

Sasha felt her heart flutter. "Yeah…" she replied, almost dreamily.

He winked. "See you then, Sasha." He walked away and was congratulated by a few of his friends.

Sasha stared.

Apparently he'd been crushing on her also. She turned back to her locker and blinked a few times, wondering if that had really just happened or if it was just a dream. Grinning, she picked up the rose and placed a hand over the note, which she had protected in her jean pocket all day.

She turned and headed out, taking the note out once more to look over it. Just before she got outside, she ran right into Kasandra, her best friend.

Kasandra was a pretty stunning girl. She had two boyfriends, who would get on their hands and knees to do anything for her. Her chocolate-color locks hung loosely over her olive skin shoulders that were revealed by a light pink tight tank top and tight jeans.

The note fell out of Sasha's hands and onto the floor. Kasandra swooped down to pick it up. "Is this the thing you kept protecting and reading at lunch? And what's been up with you lately? You wouldn't even talk to me at lunch today. And where were you yesterday?" Kasandra demanded to know.

Sasha ignored the questions. "Give that back!" she snapped, reaching for the note.

Kasandra could easily keep it away, being a good foot and a half taller than Sasha. She read it, eyebrows raising as she did. "I don't even want to know what went down between you two," Kasandra finally said, looking up at Sasha. "But Shadows has it baaaad for you. This is some seriously lovey-dovey stuff you've got here. But why are you even talking to him?"

"Shut up! He's just a friend. And he was just apologizing for something and he felt bad, I guess." Her eyes turned to glare at Kasandra. "And don't say that. You don't know him at all."

"Wait, you like him too?" gasped Kasandra accusingly, crossing her arms.

"No! You don't know him. And besides, Bobby just asked me out." She tossed her hair, still glaring. "Nick is just a friend."

Kasandra shrugged. "Well, it sure doesn't seem that way." she paused. "Good luck with the date." She winked. "I know you've liked Bobby for a loooong time."

Sasha rolled her eyes. "I'm leaving. Don't tell anyone about this." She snatched the note from Kasandra before she headed outside and to her car. She had a date to prepare for.

It wasn't time to think about Nick.

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**Awwww... That was cheesy, fluffy AND heartbreaking. Don't hate me for that... Nick is kinda bipolar for doing all that, I know. Haha. I don't even understand the poor guy. But you will definitely see why he did that soon, okay? Please review and even a 'Hello' is loved! Thank you!**


	9. Loners

**Well, I'd like to thank: **

**midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator, MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight**

**Thanks all of you! I love you all! **

**NOTE FOR AVIATOR: Yes, the Flock will become part of this fic but not for a while. I plan on this being a very long fanfiction which will probably turn into a trilogy or something like that. **

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As Sasha pulled away from the school, she replayed what Kasandra had said in her head. Was it true? It just seemed too strange. It was as if Nick were two different people.

What had made him push her away? And why did he leave a note? With a red rose, too. She faintly recalled someone telling her a red rose was the flower of love or something like that.

Nick wasn't as bad as she thought he was. He was hot, looked really good in anything he wore, and… The teen diver wanted to hit her head against something. She desperately wanted to stop thinking about Nick and fantasize about Bobby, but Nick was the only thing on her mind.

As soon as Sasha got home she began to prepare for the date. She was barely worried about homework.

She decided on her favorite skinny jeans, flip-flops, and a white halter top with a floral print that cut off right at her belly button. Sasha usually never showed her stomach. Twisting her hair back, she took out a matching floral clip and neatly put up her hair, letting her side bangs out to cover part of her right eye. She worked on her makeup until it was flawless. All she had to do was wait for that phone call. She knew it would come after seeing what happened before. She stepped outside onto her back porch to watch the sun set onto the water.

She needed to relax.

--------

Nick parked in a near empty parking lot next to a beach. He was furious. How could Sasha do that? She was just like he thought she was: a complete brat.

The rational side of him (If there is one) thought that he shouldn't be so angry. He barely knew her. She was popular. It was expected that she liked another guy.

Then another side argued that she was a brat and he should never talk to her again for doing that. That was the side that made him push her away that day at Itex.

Then there was that one somehow dominant part of his mind that wanted him to talk to her again and do things with her that weren't just things friends did. The part that made him write the letter and draw the picture.

He felt too confused with his feelings, half of which he'd never really felt before.

He stepped out of his car and jogged out onto the beach, beginning a steady run along the sand. He liked running. It was gave him a way to think about everything and loosen up. He didn't worry about his broken hand. He was fast when he wanted to be. Right then he felt faster than usual, but he supposed it was just from being angry.

He was forgetting one very big thing: he would be running right past Sasha's house.

-------

Sasha kept glancing at her cell phone, almost unable to relax. The sun was slowly lowering close into the waters.

She glanced up and sighed only to see a running person nearing. Sasha stared, squinted, and finally stood and walked down onto the beach. "There's no freakin' way…" she muttered and stomped closer to him.

Nick stopped running, realizing someone, a girl, was coming towards him.

"Do you want to explain something to me?" Sasha began, sounding annoyed and angry already, once they were a few feet away from each other.

"Leave me alone, Sasha. Go have fun on your date with Bobby," he spat as he stopped running.

"How the heck do you know about that?"

"I saw him ask you out! I was going to apologize and you didn't even see me when I came by!" his voiced rose.

"Well it's not my fault a guy likes me! I happen to like him back! Why the heck is that such a big deal to you?" Sasha hollered back. She sensed a shouting match beginning. Her anger was beginning to bubble up with each word they spoke.

Nick stopped a second, as if her question stumped him. He was about to tell her everything. Everything he hadn't told her. Sasha exploded before he could open his mouth.

"You know what, Shadows? You're a jerk just like I thought you were! You aren't lonely, you probably just think you're too good for everyone else so that's why you never talk to any of us! Everyone says that you're an emo, that you do drugs, you're a cutter… But when I was talking to you I thought that was all wrong! I thought we could actually be friends and then I could stop what everyone else was saying! We were supposed to help each other get through this, but then you yell at me and push me away when I only wanted to help you!" she felt the tears coming. She wished she hadn't wasted so much time on her make-up just to ruin it talking to Nick. "You're just like everyone says you are. You're mean, you won't let anyone in, and you hate everything and everyone around you even if they want to be your friend and help you."

Nick stood, stunned. Her words had hit him hard. But he had his argument too. He started off quietly after Sasha cooled down slightly.

"I used to think you were a stuck-up brat, just like all the other girls at school. But then I started talking to you, and I liked you. I thought you were different." He paused. "I never told you this, but I have friends, yes _actual friends_, outside of school. And they're helping me through this now. I probably don't even need you. I was going to take you to meet them. They would have liked you a lot. They scuba dive, just like you do. They would have helped you too. But you're just like I thought you were, too: A stuck-up, careless brat who only cares about herself and doesn't think about anyone else and always has to get her own way! I can't believe I ever thought for second we could be together! How could I even _think_ of ever dating you? I guess you're too good for me, aren't you? I liked you! But I guess it was a little too much. I can't believe I ever talked to you."

Sasha was the stunned one now. Nick Shadows had friends. Other friends. It just didn't seem possible. Who were they? Why hadn't he told her? Sasha wanted to yell at him again, but found no words. The other shocker was that _he liked her. _And in that not-just-friends way. Sasha thought loners never fell in love. As Sasha stood there, shocked and lost in thought, Nick turned and began to jog away.

Sasha noticed, and felt hurt again. He was leaving her, pushing her away. Even though his words hurt she didn't follow.

Suddenly, Nick collapsed on the ground. Another change was coming. Charley Sterling had warned Nick not to let any changes happen or his hand would be ruined forever.

Sasha forgot the argument immediately. She ran across the sand and fell onto her knees at his side. "Nick?" she asked, heart racing with worry again. She received no answer. She hesitantly reached out and checked his pulse.

He wasn't breathing.

"Oh… God… No…" she gasped.

Nick's phone went off in his pocket. She grabbed it out. The caller ID read 'Jack''. She flipped it open, deciding it was safe to. "Hey, Nicky-boy!" A man's enthusiastic voice rang out.

"Did you finally ask that Sasha chick out yet?"

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**Was the fight big enough? Yes, Nick is not a complete loner... More surprises coming next chapter! Does Nick live? Who's this Jack dude? I have a question for all my readers: Should I make the chapters longer? It would mean that I don't update as soon, but would it be better? Please answer in reviews. And please keep the reviews coming! A 'Hello' is even loved and welcome!**


	10. New Girl

**Well, I'd like to thank: midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight**

**Thanks all of you! I love you !**

**Please be nice on this chapter! I know I could have done better but it was surpsisingly hard to write! I also need help writing in more detail too. It is my weak side so if anyone's willing to help me improve please do!**

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Sasha took the phone away from her ear for second, eyes wide as she gasped. She then put it back to her ear. "I don't know who you are," she said, voice shaky. "But I am Sasha…. And Nick's not breathing, okay?" her voice choked up as she spoke.

The guy named Jack cussed. "I'll get there as soon as I can. Where are you?"

Sasha gave him the directions to the beach.

"Try CPR, Sasha. Or just try something." He told her before hanging up.

She hoped he came quick.

-------

A raven haired man ran out onto the beach. He got on his knees at Nick's side, opposite to Sasha, who was currently using CPR on Nick. She didn't seem to mind the mouth-to-mouth part. He had front spiked raven black hair and sea-glass green eyes.

Nick finally took a gasping breath of air.

Sasha sat back, taking a moment to register that Jack was there. "Jack?" she said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"I'm guessing you're Sasha. It's nice to finally meet you." He put emphasis on the word' finally'.

"He talks about me a lot?" Sasha gasped again, blushing.

Jack looked at the ground, knowing he'd said too much. "Sorry about the phone call. You weren't supposed to know."

"Doesn't matter. I already know."

Jack raised an eyebrow, but decided not to continue the awkward conversation.

Nick looked up weakly. "Help?" he managed to say.

"Let's get him to my car. I called the others. They'll be at the boat." Jack picked up Nick with some strange inhuman strength.

"Whoa, how the heck can you do that? And what 'other's? What boat?" Sasha asked, following Jack as he walked back to his car and placed Nick in the backseat. They quickly pulled away from the beach.

Nick's rough breathing could be heard in the silence. Sasha sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, leaning towards the window. Even though she hated admitting it, Jack was really, really cute. She flushed miserably. She was in a car, with a total stranger, who was really cute, but freaking her out at the same time.

She slouched in her seat, remembering her date with Bobby, but then thinking of what Nick had told her.

Nick liked her in a more-than-friends way.

Sasha knew she would probably end up not having the date tonight. She wished she hadn't worn belly-showing top.

"You okay?" Jack asked.

Sasha sat up quickly. "I'm fine." She lied automatically.

"Well, we're here."

Sasha glanced up to see that they were parking at a dock. Jack jumped out and helped Nick out, who could walk a little still. His hand looked horrible.

Sasha made a choice. Even though she felt slightly self-conscious as being known as Nick's somewhat crush, she got out the car.

Two motorcyclists pulled up to the curb behind them. Well, one was a policewoman. She stepped off her bike and pulled off her helmet in one motion, letting her vibrant red hair tumble down her back.

The other pulled off his revealing a brown haired man. He had the build of a football player and his bike was more like the kind you found at races.

He rushed over to help Jack and Nick, but stopped a second to look at Sasha. His eyebrows raised when he saw her. Sasha felt the need to hide in the car again. Sasha could have sworn she'd seen the brown-haired guy before, like in a sports magazine somewhere.

"Hey, Rocky. Where's Tanya?" Jack said to the brown-haired guy.

Rocky shook his head as he helped Jack hold Nick up. "I don't know. She's probably on the boat with Rick." Oh, there was that Rick guy again.

_Who the heck are these people?_ Sasha wondered as she watched from the car. The red-haired woman glanced over from her place on her bike. There was that surprised look again, green eyes wide. Sasha sighed and stepped around the car and onto the curb, heading towards the boat Jack and Rocky were going to.

These were Nick's friends? They seemed really helpful in Nick's situation. Sasha stopped walking for a second, feeling sudden guilt. Nick told his friends everything. Sasha herself had been unable to tell her best friend about anything. And she'd yelled at him for being a loner. For a second, Sasha felt jealous of him and his group of friends. It made her feel even lonelier than she already felt.

It was still hard to comprehend the fact that Nick Shadows had friends. Other friends. And they looked like they could be in college too.

Solo, she made her way up on to the deck of the boat and into the room where Nick was being laid down on a hospital-like bed. Sasha felt like it was her fault he'd let the change happen to himself. The red-haired woman followed behind her, sighing softly.

A guy with surfer-style brown hair glanced up as he attached something to Nick's injured arm.

A dark brown haired black girl leaned on a counter, leafing through the contents of a file. She set it down when she saw Sasha.

Sasha realized all of them were staring at her, except for Nick, who lay looking almost dead on the table. "What?" she said, eyes narrowing.

"Are you… Sasha?" the red-haired girl asked.

Sasha nodded. "How do you all know about me?"

The others glanced at each other, looked down at Nick, then back to Sasha.

The guy she who she guessed was Rocky scratched the back of his head. "Nick told us." He replied bluntly.

The black girl glared at him. The red-haired girl elbowed him. Rocky flinched.

Sasha looked down at the floor and sighed. "Well, I'm sure you all know enough about me then. Who are you guys? Are you in high school? Because you really don't look like it."

The black girl sighed. "Well, we're all older than 21. But I'm Tanya. I'm a scientist. That guy," she pointed to Jack, "is a bum."

"I'm not a bum! I'm a photographer!" Jack yelled indignantly. They all laughed.

"Anyways!" Tanya continued on, laughing. "The guy working on Nick is Rick. He's a surgeon. Rocky, the guy who loves his motorcycle, does racing. You've probably heard of him before."

Rocky stood a little straighter at the acknowledgement of his small celebrity status.

Tanya stopped, and the red-haired woman continued on. "Call me Ann. I'm a policewoman."

"Oh, I thought you looked familiar. You ticketed my mom last week... Dang, was she mad." Sasha teased.

"Don't even get Ann started on speeding. She already has enough to deal with when Rocky starts running red lights." Tanya remarked, earning a roll of eyes from both Ann and Rocky. "And then, Nick's here, but of course you already know him. He's your boyfr-"

"Shut up!" Ann hissed.

"You guys don't have to keep doing that." Sasha said sheepishly. "I already know."

"You do?" Jack asked.

"He told me." Apparently Sasha had been the topic of many conversations among the group. "Did he… talk about me a lot?" Sasha asked.

Jack sighed. "Yeah, he did."

"What did he say?"

"A lot." Jack continued on. "At first he said you were a stuck-up brat, but then he said you were a 'nice, young lady.' Apparently he was wrong." Jack chuckled, scanning Sasha.

Rocky gave a low whistle, finally noticing what she was wearing.

She blushed again, remembering that she wasn't exactly wearing something 'nice young ladies' wore. Her mom probably would have yelled at her just for going outside with it.

"Is this what you usually wear?" Ann had enough guts to ask.

Sasha shook her head, struggling to find words to explain. "I was…."

"Yeah?"

"I was going on a date."

"With Nick?" Tanya and Ann said in unison, suddenly looking more excited.

Sasha shook her head again, looking guilty. "It was another guy."

A complete awkward silence ensued. No one looked at each other.

Rick finally broke the silence. "Are you going to stay here until Nick's better or are you going to leave?"

"I'm staying."

Tanya glanced up at that.

"Well, I guess you'll need a doctor's note to get out of school. How long do you want to stay out for?"

"So you were the one who wrote the doctor's note for Nick. Can you do the rest of the week?"

"Not a problem." Rick grabbed a piece of paper off the counter and scribbled something down.

Sasha looked instantly relieved. The other three still looked uncomfortable knowing Sasha had been ready to go out on a date. "I don't think… I'll go out with the other guy." Sasha told them quietly.

Jack glanced up and nodded, awkward conversation forgotten.

"Hey, can I borrow someone's car? I need to go home and change." Sasha said, tugging down the bottom of her shirt a little, but it didn't help cover up much.

Jack tossed her the keys to his car, which he was still holding. "Have fun," he grinned.

"Thanks," she answered, stepping outside.

"Dang, Nick's got good taste!" she could hear Rocky say about her once he thought she was out of earshot.

She smiled, then sighed. It was all too hard for her to deal with right now. Lost in thought, she didn't notice the alien car parked behind Jack's.

As she reached out to open the door, a gun was rammed into her back and a hand clamped around her mouth. "Don't say anything, Sasha." A calm, familiar voice whispered.

The scientists were back.

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**Okay, here's a guide to all the new characters:**

**Jack: black hair, green eyes, photographer/traveler, closer to Tanya than the rest of them.**

**Rocky: shorter brown hair, blue eyes, races anything- cars, bikes **

**Ann: red hair, green eyes, policewoman, dislikes Tanya somewhat**

**Tanya: Half African American, dark brown hair, brown eyes, scientist in robotics/nanotechnology(Hint hint hint!), closer to Jack than the rest of them, dislikes Ann**

**Rick: longish ear-length brown hair, blue eyes, surgeon, Jewish.**

**I'll go into more detail on their pasts later. I think they all have very interesting pasts and lives. All of them have been orphans and parent-less for a very long time. And Nick is actually 20, but I'll explain that later too. Please review and even a 'Hello' is loved and welcome!**


	11. Kidnapped

**Well, I'd like to thank: midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight, vvvvvvvvvvv, Birdhearted**

**Thanks all of you! I love you! This chapter is for vvvvvvvvvvv, who sent four reviews asking me to update quickly.**

**I still need help in doing more detail! If anyone can help me please do!**

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Sasha gasped, but stayed quiet. She dropped the keys.Her hands and arms were tied together as she was shoved harshly into the backseat of their car.

The man in the passenger seat, Ben, had a loaded gun pointed at her as the other scientist, James, pulled away as quietly as possible.

She didn't dare try to escape. She'd never been in a situation with a gun pointed at her.

The kidnapped teen closed her eyes and silently begged for escape.

-------

Back at the boat, Nick's breathing sped up slightly.

Rick stepped back, eyebrows narrowing with confusion.

"What's up?" Tanya asked, noticing a problem.

"It's Sasha…" Nick whispered.

Tanya jumped to her feet. "What is it, Nick?"

Jack glanced up, concerned. Nick's voice had sounded urgent, even though it was quiet.

"They took her… Look outside…" Nick managed to say.

"How do you know?" Tanya asked, not sure of if Nick was being delusional or if he was right.

"Just go look!" he snapped loudly.

Jack rushed outside onto the deck. He swore he'd heard the car pull away, except his car was still parked… With some shiny car keys laying on the ground, right beside the car door. Jack cussed. He hoped he wasn't second-guessing. "She's gone!" he yelled, stepping back inside.

Nick was standing up, despite the attempts of Rick and Tanya to keep him down. "I feel fine!" Nick snapped, letting his injured arm hang loosely as he ran his other hand through his hair. They backed away. "I need to find Sasha."

"How the heck did you know she was gone?" Tanya asked.

Rick disappeared and came back with Rocky and Ann hurrying behind.

"I just know, okay?" Nick answered before racing outside and down onto the docks. He stopped for a second, looking at Jack's car. He instantly took off running in the direction of the scientists.

It was like some strange sense of force that led him. A sense of smell? He couldn't figure it out. He needed to be faster. _If I can change into a lion once, can I do it again?_ He wondered.

In one jump, he smoothly leaned forward and slipped, though somewhat painfully, into the body of a lion.

Everything became clear. He was following a trail.

Ann and Rocky, following on their motorcycles, had to stop and stare at the sight for second before racing after again. It was amazing.

Nick's speed was inhuman, even faster than a real lion.

The scientists, in the car, noticed they were being followed. "There's an intersection coming up. Lose them there." James said, glancing at Ben for a second as he held the gun steady at Sasha. Ben skillfully ran a red light and swerved onto the freeway.

Two cars, flying behind them in confusion, crashed dangerously. Sasha was jerked into the window, head smashing against it. She lay down on the seat and hissed in pain.

Nick stopped, suddenly unable to find a way around with the all cars. A police officer stared and jumped out of his car, aiming a gun at the lion.

Lions weren't supposed to run loose in Southern Florida.

Nick growled and tried to get around one of the cars. Two shots rang out and Nick found him self lying on the ground of the street, shot in the right paw and his back right leg. He slowly turned human again, somehow fully clothed.

Rocky and Ann pulled up, following by Tanya, Jack and Rick in the other car.

Ann immediately began to lecture the police who had shot the gun. "What the heck were you thinking?" she screamed.

The baffled policeman was cowering.

As Tanya and Rick jumped out of the car to help Nick, Rocky and Jack continued after the scientists. Ann decided to finish lecturing the policeman later and got back on her motorcycle to race after the scientists too.

Ann called for backup. "I'll explain it later… No! They kidnapped her! ... That's a felony, idiot! Now send me backup and put up blockades before I—" She yelled over radio. "Good, fine. Now do it already!" she snapped.

------

"They're coming…" Ben warned James. Sasha wanted to look out the tinted window and see.

Ben shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He told James. He swerved dangerously into a gated area, thickly covered with foliage. Leafy tree branches smacked the windows as they rolled through a muddy road, slipping into puddles and splashing water.

------

Jack, Rocky and Ann drove right passed them. Rocky eventually stopped, Jack behind him.

"We lost them!" Rocky yelled to them, wanting to kick his bike for it. Ann knew they had put up blockades since there was too much traffic. They would have let her know if they'd found them.

Slowly, feeling guilty for failing, they turned around onto the opposite highway and back to the crossroads.

------

"They aren't following us anymore," James said. Sasha's eyes widened as she lost the hope she had before. She sat up as the parked in front of a run down dirty building in the middle of all the everglades. The helpless teen didn't put up a fight as she was thrust out of the car and pushed into the building.

She stumbled through water puddles over the ground and was pushed into a chair. James tied her arms to arms of the chair as Ben readied something that looked like a syringe.

"This will just knock you out slightly, Sasha." He spoke condescendingly.

Sasha glared at him. She gasped quietly as it was pushed into her arm and emptied into her blood stream. Her head fell back as the world spun around her.

She couldn't tell what they were doing next, but it seemed like it was first a blood test, then another shot of some strange silvery liquid, and then they placed a chip in her arm. She felt thankful that she couldn't feel it happening due to the first shot, but it was wearing away quickly.

The ropes were cut and she was thrown into the backseat of the car again. She lay down dizzily, head beginning to ache. The car took off again onto a different road, one leading to a boardwalk onto the ocean.

The scientists stopped once they drove to the end of it. Sasha didn't fight them when she was pulled out of the car and pushed towards the water, hands tied behind her back.

Not speaking, they rolled her off the boardwalk into the water like she was some flimsy rag doll. The teen sunk deep into the water, unable to swim.

She couldn't hold her breath any longer. She let it out, air bubbling to the surface.

She breathed in the water, wanting death to come quickly if it did. Her eyes shot open as the water came through her lungs as easily as air. Saltwater stinging her eyes was usually a problem when diving, but now she felt nothing, like she was out of water. She could see a few schools a fish and a rocky bottom below her as she struggled to stay neutrally buoyant.

Unexpectedly, a horrid racking pain shot through her whole body. Everything burned and stung. She felt her body changing, bones growing and shaping in different places, arms and legs shortening. Her hands slipped out of the ropes and her arms formed into fins. Her back curved and her face elongated. Her legs pulled together into a tail.

The grey bottlenose dolphin, disoriented, landed softly on a patch of dotted sand. The pain gradually ebbed away, leaving her feeling exhausted.

The sensation of being a dolphin was amazing. She could sense things underwater she'd never sensed before. She could feel the school of fish moving around her.

Then she remembered Nick and the others. They'd been following her. They didn't know where she was.

Sasha struggled to swim, her tail moving yet not getting her anywhere. After practicing for a minute, she was able to lift herself off the seafloor and swim a few feet by moving her tail up and down.

It soon became as familiar as walking. '_Well, walking like a baby taking its first steps, but it's still a start' _she thought. _'I don't even know where I am. But if the boardwalk is north of the boat then I need to go… this way'_ She began to swim across the rocks, going up to the surface a few times to check. She felt that she was heading in the right direction.

When she got comfortable enough with just swimming, she tried a few jumps out of water. It was extremely fun, she found. Even if she messed up she still struck the water without getting hurt.

Now onward to the docks.

------

"We lost them. We lost Sasha." Jack said sullenly, gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white as Tanya and Rick loaded Nick into the car. They were being extremely cautious with his wounds from the shots.

Nick heard Jack speak. As they drove back to the boat, he felt like all of it was his fault. He believed he could have prevented it. He could have saved her.

"I failed you, Sasha." He whispered, almost inaudible. "I failed you."

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**Yay! Another chapter! I'll post the guide to the characters for help again:**

**Jack: black hair, green eyes, photographer/traveler, closer to Tanya than the rest of them. **

**Rocky: shorter brown hair, blue eyes, races anything- cars, bikes **

**Ann: red hair, green eyes, policewoman, dislikes Tanya somewhat**

**Tanya: Half African American, dark brown hair, brown eyes, scientist in robotics/nanotechnology(Hint hint hint!), closer to Jack than the rest of them, dislikes Ann**

**Rick: longish ear-length brown hair, blue eyes, surgeon, Jewish.**

**If you have any questions please ask! Please review! A 'Hello' is even loved and welcome!**


	12. Hearts

**Well, I'd like to thank: midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight, vvvvvvvvvvv,** **Birdhearted, supergirl911**

**Thank you so much all of you! You have no idea how much just one nice review means to me! I love all you!**

**This chapter is for avikar, because I know you'll like this chapter. It's the fluffiest yet! I also want to thank the Aviator and maxtwin15 because you guys were some of my first reviews and you're still reviewing!**

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An hour later, all of them were at the boat, waiting and mostly feeling guilty for losing Sasha. Nick was getting the bullets removed by Rick. Nick demanded not be put under an anesthetic. '_I deserve to feel the pain,_' he thought. Rick ignored his demands and attached him to an IV, then continued on with the operation.

Tanya and Jack were outside on the front deck of the boat. Rocky's boat was huge and they practically lived there, since he let them. Apparently, retired and famous racers got lots of big gifts like that.

Jack glanced at Tanya. "Do you think Sasha's okay? Nick seems pretty miserable about it."

She sighed. "I don't know. I just hope she likes Nick as much as Nick likes her."

-----

Sasha sensed that she was getting close to the boat. She didn't know where else to go. On the way, she'd spent a lot of time thinking about Nick. She was getting ticked off at herself. Part of her was mad at him, and part of her wanted him.

She remembered the note he'd wrote her. Her insides felt mushy at the thought of it. Then seeing how hot he was. Her heart beat faster when she recalled seeing him without a shirt on… She stopped swimming.

She wasn't going to admit it. She didn't want to admit it. But she had to face it.

_She liked Nick Shadows._

And in a more-than-just-friends way. She hoped he wasn't angry for what she'd said at the beach. The teen now felt entirely guilty, wishing she could take it all back. He had told her he liked her too. There was that warm feeling in her stomach again when she thought of him...

The dolphin poked her head out of the water and saw a boat dock. There, just like she hoped, was Rocky's boat. She swam at the surface, jumping and hoping they would notice. She faintly saw two people talking on the bow of the ship.

"Oh, look at that…" Tanya gestured toward the lone dolphin in the water. "That's odd… Dolphins like those travel in pods. That one is alone. And usually they don't intentionally swim towards boats…"

"You're just too smart, you know that?" Jack muttered. They watched as the dolphin came to a stop, poking its head out of the water to look at them.

Tanya gasped. "Oh God, there's no way that can be-"

"Sasha!" Jack called out.

The dolphin whistled in agreement. "Help!" Sasha called out, but it only came out as a squeak. "It's me, okay! I need help!" she called out again. Jack and Tanya stared, unable to comprehend her urgent dolphin calls.

"Go get Nick." Tanya told Jack, who immediately rushed downstairs.

The bullets had been removed, and Nick was okay, but resting as he healed at an amazing rate.

"Sasha's here!" Jack alerted. "We kinda need you right now, Nick."

He and Rick helped Nick up stairs on to the deck. Sasha stared up from the water, waiting. Her heart fluttered when she saw Nick. He ran to the railing, breaking away from Jack and Rick. He still wore his pants but he had no shirt on. Sasha noticed that quickly, her heart now in double time.

"Sasha?" he called out hesitantly. Rocky and Ann came outside to watch. Everyone was silent.

"Yes! It's me! Nick, I'm so sorry!" she called out.

Nick, somehow, understood everything she said as clearly as English. To the others it was just a string of unintelligible dolphin calls. "It's okay, Sasha. Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine… I just want to get out of the water. How do I become human again?"

"Just think of what you looked like as a human." Sasha slipped underwater again. Nick watched, hands gripping the rail hard. She floated about ten feet underwater, concentrating on being her human self. The pain came back as she slipped back into being human again. Somehow, she still had her clothes on. She swam back up to the surface, grinning.

Tanya brought up some towels as Rocky set down a ladder. Sasha readily pulled herself up onto the ladder, climbing up. Water dripped from her clothes. She pulled herself over the railing and Tanya put the towel around her. She accepted it eagerly.

Nick stepped forward as everyone took a step away from the reunion. Sasha and Nick just stared at each other for a few seconds before Nick suddenly pulled her into a hug. She rested her head on his shoulder. He held her like that for a few silent seconds before breaking away and standing directly in front of her, his hands on her waist. Sasha looked up at him.

Swiftly and suddenly, an impulse he couldn't control, he kissed her.

It wasn't one of those deep smooching kisses. It was so small and quick it could barely be considered a kiss. Just a quick peck on the lips, just holding it there a second or two before pulling away, but nonetheless it was a kiss.

Sasha blushed noticeably, heart pounding. It was her first kiss. Her actual first kiss, no matter how small it may have been. Nick straightened up and looked down at her.

Suddenly Sasha got up on her toes and pressed her lips to his, returning the kiss. Nick was shocked, but kissed back. She slowly broke away after a few moments. The two stared at each other. They turned to look at the others, who were grinning at the two.

"Alright, lovebirds. That's enough." Jack intervened.

Nick was brought downstairs again for more resting, and Ann got Sasha some dry clothes. After taking a shower and changing, Sasha went to see Nick.

"Hey," he said, lifting his head up when he saw her.

"Hi," Sasha said shyly, going to stand at his side at the bed. Rick and Tanya exchanged glances, left the room immediately and closed the door behind them. They knew it was a private moment for the two.

Nick sighed. "Look, Sasha, about earlier-"

"Nothing's wrong. It was my first kiss. Don't worry about it."

"I stole your first kiss… I'm sorry, Sasha. I know you don't like me the same way." He sounded guilty. He couldn't make eye contact with her.

Sasha shook her head. "No, Nick." She swallowed, trying to make the words come out. "Listen to me. I decided I would only let a guy kiss me, and be my first kiss, if I thought the relationship would last. And that was if I really, really liked this guy. Nick, I wouldn't have let you kiss me if I didn't really like you."

Nick turned to look at her. "Wait, then you're in love with me?"

Sasha nodded. "Is 'love' really the accurate word to use?"

"If you want this to be lasting, it is." She smiled, and leaned down to kiss him again. It was, again, just a chaste kiss.

On the heart moniter, the beeps spiked noticeably. Sasha looked up and laughed. Nick blushed slightly.

"We should try that again," she whispered heatedly in his ear. The heart rate went even faster than before. "Do I really have that affect on you?" Sasha glanced down at him.

He nodded silently, flushing miserably. She looked up as Rick pushed the door open, looking embarrassed for interrupting. "Hey, Sasha, I'm sorry about this, but you need to go. Nick needs to take a break after all that."

Nick was glaring at Rick. Sasha sighed. "Yeah, it's alright. Just…Take care of Nick, okay?" She leaned down and kissed Nick again, surprising him.

The heart rate jumped dramatically.

Nick groaned. "Rick, you _really_ need to disconnect that thing."

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**Yay I love this chapter! Yes, the heart moniter scene was inspired by the Twilight series! Please review and even a 'Hello' is loved!**


	13. Leaving

**Well, I'd like to thank: midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight, vvvvvvvvvvv,** **Birdhearted, supergirl911, maximumtrouble10, animeluvr4lyf**

**Thank you so much all of you! You have no idea how much just one nice review means to me! I love all of you!**

**For Aviator: Please be patient. I will bring in the Flock as soon as I can, but that won't be for awhile sorry.**

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Sasha left the room after the heart monitor incident, but stayed a little while to watch Tanya give Nick a round of teasing. Tanya seemed nice. She had a sharp tongue and was extremely smart, but it looked like she was hiding something about her.

Rick was a little more quiet and always flinched when she kissed Nick. She wondered why. He was a pretty cute guy. Didn't he have a girlfriend? Sasha didn't think about for long and left to sit at the table.

The three others, Jack, Ann, and Rocky were there. Jack looked comfortable in one of the chairs, Ann was doing something with her gun and Rocky was leaning on the counter looking out the window.

The all looked up at Sasha when she came in, and grinned as if hiding as secret. She flushed. "Hi," she said weakly, sitting at the table. Tanya and Rick came back out and sat at the table.

Sasha sunk a little in her chair, feeling everyone staring at her. "Can I ask a few questions?" she asked hesitantly.

"Shoot."

"How did all of you meet?"

"Well…" Rocky began to explain. "We just… met each other at one point. It's a long story. I knew Rick first, then Ann came along, and then Jack and Tanya met us about two years ago."

"Don't you have parents or something?"

A silence followed. "We don't have parents, Sasha. That's the main reason why we're actually all friends." Tanya said softly.

Sasha looked at the floor. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. We're used to it." Jack shrugged.

"How did you meet Nick then?"

"We were on the beach and a guy was hitting on Ann, and she got annoyed but he wouldn't leave, so Nick suddenly came out and beat him up." Rocky explained, laughing.

"He did that…" Sasha murmured, and her heart jumped. Her almost-boyfriend could beat up people. Well, within reason but it was still pretty awesome.

Ann hadn't talked much yet. Sasha wasn't sure what to think of her. She liked Jack, though. He was nice and funny and somehow really strong, but the thing that bothered her was that there was one thing he seemed to be hiding. It was a secret that crawled under all the acting happy and joking. Then Rocky seemed to be the more immature one. She could imagine him going out and drinking all night and partying. He was still a nice guy and also intended to keep Sasha and Nick safe, she knew.

Sasha glanced at all of them. She barely knew them, yet she was already seeing what they were like. Apparently they were a very close knit group and Sasha just felt like some kind of intruder. She hoped they had accepted her.

"So, what do you think of Nick?" Ann finally spoke up.

Sasha flushed. "I, Um…"

"Oh, leave her alone, Ann." Tanya muttered. The question dropped. There was apparently some kind of problem between Ann and Tanya. Both Jack and Rocky sighed, already knowing what was going on. Sasha's eyebrows raised as Jack decided to change the subject.

"We're moving to Hawaii." he announced.

Sasha stared at him and stopped drawing mindless circles on the table with her hand. "What?" she said disbelievingly.

"Well, we can't stay here." Tanya added. "Hawaii seemed like a nice place to start over, and it's similar to Florida."

"But-"

"Sasha, you and Nick aren't safe here."

"This is my home!" Sasha snapped, standing up, her chair scratching the floor as it was pushed back. Five pairs of surprised eyes stared at her.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out nearby. A woman screamed. Sasha recognized it.

It was her mom's.

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**I know it was short but I knew I needed to post something at least. Please review and even a 'Hello' is loved!**


	14. Shot

**Well, I'd like to thank: midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight, vvvvvvvvvvv,** **Birdhearted, supergirl911, maximumtrouble10, animeluvr4lyf, MoonStarWithWings, I am Brooklyn, pepper66**

**Thank you so much all of you! You have no idea how much just one nice review means to me! I love all of you!**

**pepper66, 'Nasha' does rock! That made me laugh. Thank you! XD**

**I'm so sorry about not updating soon! **

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Sasha finally remembered her mom had been supposed to land that day, and she did. She'd forgotten. Her mom had been home… And Sasha wasn't there. She froze, standing and staring off with wide, shocked eyes. The scream was too familiar. It was possible.

Ann was already running off the boat to inspect what happened. Well, she was in the police. Sasha dashed out onto the deck of the boat that faced her house.

Nick appeared behind her. "Sasha? What happened?" he asked, seeing her flustered state.

"Someone got shot… I think it was my mom!" Sasha told him, holding onto the railing. She was suddenly thankful she was wearing shorts and flip flops as she jumped over the railing and shifted back into a dolphin, racing towards her house that lay along the beach. The change, again, was painful beyond imagination.

"No!" she could here Nick calling. With a groan he took off onto the docks, ignoring the pain from the wounds as he swiftly jumped back into the form of a lion. Except it wasn't completely lion, he had a few leopard-like spots on his back. The others, now behind him, wondered if turning into a lion wasn't the limit.

When Sasha pulled herself out of the water, human again, and ran up the steps of the back porch into her house, she saw the front door flung open and her mom, Linda Cortez, looking pale and dead in a slowly growing puddle of blood on the tile floor of the entry way to her house. The assailant was gone. Sasha sucked in a deep breath, gasping as she took in the sight that lay before her. The two bullet holes were dangerously close to her heart.

Nick got to the front door, human again too. She fell to her knees, tears appearing in her eyes. As Rick and Ann followed through and immediately began to check if Ms. Cortez was okay, Nick pulled Sasha away into the hall to comfort her.

She sunk into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder. Nick wasn't sure what to do at first. It wasn't everyday a girl just fell onto you and expected you to do something. Closing his eyes he pressed his lips to the top of her head and rubbed comforting circles on her back. "Sasha, I'll make sure Rick does everything he can to save your mom, okay?" He said softly. The sobbing ceased somewhat, as far as he could tell.

Nick felt like it was his fault. All of this was because of him. Sasha had followed him the day of the trip and now she was here and her mom was shot when she wasn't supposed to be.

As an ambulance and several police cars pulled up Sasha found herself unable to watch anything. Her mom was loaded into the ambulance and driven away with Rick going with them to help. Jack watched, arms crossed tensely as he seemed to be contemplating something. Nick itched to go after the person who had shot her. Ann was taking care of the police outside with Rocky standing by.

Sasha tore away from Nick and hurried up the stairs to her room. As the door slammed behind her, Nick wondered if he should go back to her. Instead, he turned and headed outside onto the beach.

Sasha collapsed on her bed, forcing herself to not let the tears flow like they wanted to. There was a soft knock on the door. Tanya opened the door, looking at Sasha with a sad expression.

"Hey," she said, going to sit on the bed beside Sasha.

"Yeah?" Sasha's voice cracked.

"Are you alright?" Tanya was definitely concerned.

"I'm fine." Sasha said her voice stone-hard and cold. There were a few seconds of awkward silence as Tanya watched Sasha's back with a look of sympathy.

Sasha cracked and sat up, turning to Tanya and hugging her. Tanya let Sasha hug her, but seemed almost hesitant to do anything else. Slowly, she put an arm around Sasha's shoulder. Sasha felt that the movement was somehow mechanical.

She didn't really care. Her mom could be dead by now.

So she just let the tears fall.

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**Ugh, I'm so sorry about having to make another short chapter but I've been so busy with school... I'll try to make the next one longer. I hope this chapter wasn't confusing at all and please tell me if I made some stupid errors. Please review and even a 'Hello' is loved!**


	15. Drowning

**Well, I'd like to thank: midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight, vvvvvvvvvvv,** **Birdhearted, supergirl911, maximumtrouble10, animeluvr4lyf, MoonStarWithWings, I am Brooklyn, pepper66, Ciiirce, Wing-Kid-x0, H(I'm glad you like my story, but please stop spamming, H)**

**Thank you so much all of you! You have no idea how much just one nice review means to me! I love all of you!**

**avikar, Nick has a depression so that's the reason why he feels guilty for everything that's happened to Sasha and those he cares about. I'll explain more in the chapters to come... Thanks for reviewing!**

**Ciiirce, thank you so much! I tried really hard to make the prologue good and that made me happy. Thank you!**

**I'm so sorry about not updating soon! Please tell me if there are any errors you find.**

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Nick sensed that the man who'd shot Linda was close. But he felt overweighed with guilt.

If Sasha hadn't followed him on the trip, and he hadn't let her come, then she wouldn't have been in this problem. She'd never had gotten to know him.

This was all because of him.

He stood out on the beach, staring at the water. It was just too much handle. _Don't do it…_ A voice in his head told him. _She needs you… _Then, ignoring that voice, he stepped into the water.

He needed to end it now. He kept going forward, not stopping as the waves hit him. He still absolutely hated the water. Memories stirred at the back of his mind as he finally sunk down into the water.

Still crying inside the house, Sasha gasped suddenly. "No, no, no, no, NO!" she screamed, pulling away from Tanya and running downstairs again.

Something was wrong with Nick. She didn't know how or why, but she just knew something was happening to Nick. She needed to stop it.

She sprinted outside onto the beach. She stopped on the sand, staring out at the water. Tanya hurried out behind her.

"What is it?" Tanya rushed to say.

Sasha's heart pounded. "It's Nick! Something's wrong!"

Then she saw him, just floating there lifelessly out in the water. The teen rushed into the water, diving into the wave as it came and swimming out to save Nick. _Why?_ She thought. _Why did he do it?_

She finally grabbed hold of him after several long seconds of hurried swimming. Rocky, Ann and Jack followed Tanya out of the house to see Nick.

"Help me!" Sasha yelled as she reached the shore. Rocky hurried to help place Nick on some dry sand. Sasha landed on her knees at his side. "Don't die..." she whimpered.

She immediately began the process of CPR, with the others watching with wide, sad and surprised eyes.

They knew something Sasha didn't. She still didn't know of Nick's long-lasting depression. He did the most irrational things because of it. They'd seen the worst of it all from him, and now Sasha had to see it too.

When Nick first started talking about her, it was like a gift from heaven. There could finally be someone to pull Nick out of his depression and he could finally live again.

Unfortunately, it wasn't working so far.

But seeing him kiss her, only a little while ago, was a definite start. And they were proud of their Nicky-boy. Now it was just going wrong with Nick trying to drown himself after seeing her mom hurt.

He was taking the blame, as usual, no matter how much it wasn't his fault.

Sasha soon began mouth-to-mouth, fingers shaking so much she could barely do it. After a few rounds, she sat back on her knees, wiping away some sudden tears. She leaned down again and kissed his unmoving lips, arms sliding around his neck as she cradled him.

"Please don't die…"

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**Ugh! I'm sorry about not updating quickly! And I'm really sorry this chapter was so short! I've been busy with school and homework and holiday stuff and friends... **

**I probably will update once this week or next weekend but then I will be gone for my winter break. I'll be skiing in Colorado. I still want someone to beta and critique this story. Again, I'm sorry about the short chapters and not updating very quickly.**


	16. Not Just Feeling Sad

**Well, I'd like to thank: midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight, vvvvvvvvvvv,** **Birdhearted, supergirl911, maximumtrouble10, animeluvr4lyf, MoonStarWithWings, I am Brooklyn, pepper66, Ciiirce, Wing-Kid-x0, H, Kage, rainbowriter96, mergirl007**

**Thank you so much all of you! You have no idea how much just one nice review means to me! I love all of you!**

**mergirl1007, thanks for doing those great reviews for the first three chapters!**

**I'm so sorry about not updating soon! Please tell me if there are any errors you find.**

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She gently let his head fall back and gave one last desperate try at mouth-to-mouth. Nick's eyes flew open and he immediately spit out the water. Sasha sat back with relief, tears still in her eyes. Nick lay back on the sand, looking up at her.

"Why did you do it, Nick? Why?" she asked him as the tears started to come back.

Nick sat up and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. "All of this is my fault, Sasha. I don't want you to feel the pain of my mistakes."

Sasha buried her face in his shoulder. "You shouldn't have done it. You didn't need to drown yourself. Don't you know that I need you?"

"I'm so sorry…" Nick murmured, rubbing her back gently to calm her. He felt guilty now, wishing he hadn't put Sasha through that. Tanya, Jack, Rocky and Ann felt the moment was so private they had to look away.

"But why? Why did you do it, Nick? I still don't understand." Sasha asked.

She felt Nick turn from warm and comforting to stone-hard and guarded. She pulled away to look at him. Nick's eyes were shaded by his hair and he was frowning, as if deciding on something important.

"We should go back to the boat. It's isn't safe here." Ann interrupted softly. Sasha looked up and nodded. She and Nick got to their feet and they walked to the cars.

"Well, things will be better in Hawaii. I could get a job as a hula dancer." Jack tried to lighten the atmosphere.

"I wouldn't do that." Tanya spoke up.

"Yeah? Why not?"

"I hear the guys don't wear anything under those grass skirts!" Tanya laughed.

"No way!"

"Yeah! And you'd have to shave your legs too. Ooh, I'd like to watch that." Tanya said playfully, getting the others to laugh. "Oh, that would be fun. We could take you to get your legs waxed. Just us, one day at the spa. And your chest too. God, you're more caveman than human! Oooh, and a facial too. I know how much you love those!"

Even Nick and Sasha were laughing now with the others as Jack turned a shade of red. "Oh no! Don't tell me you're blushing!" Tanya said. Jack laughed and playfully hit Tanya in the arm.

They all laughed at the joke, and for a few moments, everything seemed okay.

A few days passed, Sasha tense and quiet most of the time. She went back to the boat to stay protected by Nick and the others. The teen continued begging to see her mom.

On the day of the shooting, Rick finally came back to tell them that her mom was okay, but would need to stay in the hospital healing for now. Sasha had collapsed on the couch, filled with relief. Nick thanked the surgeon softly and then returned to sitting next to his new, well, almost-girlfriend.

Since the kiss and the shooting of Linda Cortez, feelings and actions between them had been so awkward. Nick wasn't sure how to react.

He didn't go to any of the others for advice. None of them currently had a girlfriend or boyfriend.

Yeah, Rocky had a huge totally obvious crush on Ann that she seemed to purposely not notice, and Tanya and Jack should be together, but they still couldn't really tell him anything.

Rick was off-limits for advice. He was always flinching when he saw Sasha and Nick together, as if it hurt him to see another couple happy. The surgeon had his own heartbreak story. None of them ever spoke about it, but they all knew.

Time passed, and it was now a day after. Sasha walked outside to talk to Nick, deciding there were some things that needed to be cleared. He stood on the deck outside, stars visible in the sky. Everything seemed silent except for the occasional boat creaking and the waves softly rolling.

"Nick," she said softly, watching him from the doorway. He turned to her, looking surprised under his usually unemotional expression. "We need to talk."

Nick sighed. "I know." He spoke softly.

She took a few small nervous steps until she was a foot away from him, looking up at him. They'd barely touched each other after all that had happened the day before.

"Why did you try to drown yourself? Why did you do it?" Sasha desperately wanted to know.

Nick stepped away and turned around to face the sea again. It was time to tell her. "Sasha… I have… a depression." It seemed so awkward telling her like this.

He looked over his shoulder for a fraction of a second to see Sasha's softened face and wide worried eyes gazing at him. "Nick…" she murmured.

He turned to her again and felt her arms slip around him in a tight hug. He put his arms around her and suddenly it seemed so much easier to talk. "I've been like this for a long time. I was never really happy… I thought it was my fault. I thought that maybe leaving would make it better for you."

"How could you say that?" Sasha gasped, pulling her head away to look up at him. "Why would you leave me, Nick? Don't you understand how much I need you! I can't do this without you!" Her voice was choked with tears.

Nick, now feeling that worse than before, rubbed her back, calming her. "I'm so sorry, Sasha…"

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**Well, I did think about what I would do with Nick, but I knew I wasn't going to kill him. Thanks for all your great reviews! I know the chapters are still short, but I've been busy with vacation and my computer breaking down so I couldn't really do anything, sorry. Thanks for holding on. I'm sure there were lots of errors in this chapter so please tell me if you find any. Please review and even a 'Hello' is loved and welcome!**


	17. You Don't Know

**Well, I'd like to thank: midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight, vvvvvvvvvvv,** **Birdhearted, supergirl911, maximumtrouble10, animeluvr4lyf, MoonStarWithWings, I am Brooklyn, pepper66, Ciiirce, Wing-Kid-x0, H, Kage, rainbowriter96, mergirl007, duudezilla, firesilk**

**Thank you so much all of you! You have no idea how much just one nice review means to me! I love all of you!**

**What happened to reviews this time? This chapter is the longest yet. And was the hardest to write. I hope I get more reviews this time!**

**Please tell me if there are any errors you find.**

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Sasha remained on the boat, watched protectively by Nick. She stayed by his side most of the time, now that she knew about his depression. She now understood why he had done all that at her house.

Even though the two were now almost boyfriend and girlfriend, they barely kissed. The couple shared small kisses or pecks on the cheek but mostly he just held her close when he could. When he took her hand she gently squeezed his, fingers wrapping around his. The others watched, interested in how the relationship developed. So far it was going slowly. They didn't expect Nick and Sasha to have a private make out session, especially when Sasha's mom was in the hospital. Then when the 17-year-old wasn't with Nick, she was worrying about her mom, or about Nick and herself being together. She could barely think straight anymore.

One night she had expressed her craving for sushi, or at least fish. Everyone wanted a break and went out to dinner. Sasha flawlessly used her chopsticks through the dinner at the nearby Japanese restaurant while the others struggled. They had talked, laughed, joked, and Sasha smiled easily for the first time since that day at her house. Sasha helped Nick learn how to use chopsticks, not seeming to mind showing that they were together. They held hands under the table for most of the dinner.

Unfortunately for the other friends, it became awkward. Rocky looked at Ann with an unsure expression while Tanya stole glances at Rocky and Jack watched Tanya hopelessly. Anyone looking closely enough would be able to figure something out.

Rick just watched. He knew what was going on, but he never said anything. He had completely detached himself from anything love-related and was always sure to not be around Nick and Sasha when they were kissing or hugging. It hurt him in ways he just couldn't explain.

Jack was taking care of preparations for moving to Hawaii. They would basically 'die'. Disappear. Sasha hating having to think about it. Florida was her home. She didn't want to move and start over yet, but she knew it wasn't safe anymore. Things had changed

Jack, Tanya, Rocky and Rick now sat at the kitchen table, not currently doing much. Ann stomps in, muttering to herself. She slammed a newspaper down on the table. "Dang it! The Ghost strikes again… Just around the corner. Several murders in the past two weeks and nothing! We can't track a dang thing." She growled.

"Isn't 'the Ghost' that serial killer who's killed like what, 200 people in the US?" Rocky asked bluntly, grabbing the newspaper to look at it.

Jack seemed to sit up unnaturally rigid as he glanced over the newspaper.

Ann nodded. "Yeah, that's him. No evidence is ever found. No DNA. The department I work never found anything and there have been so many murders by him down here for the past several years. It's unbelievable. He's right around the corner… But we still can't find him. There was another one last night… One of the worst ones too. He must have been pretty ticked off about something. You want details?"

"No!" Rocky and Tanya voiced quickly.

Ann shrugged. "Whatever. It was just… sickening. Horrible. If I ever find him I'll make sure he suffers just like everyone he's ever hurt."

Jack tried to keep his face impassive as leaned back in his chair, feigning disinterest. Tanya glanced at him. He looked back at her. She quickly moved her eyes away. Jack's eyes momentarily widened with worry.

Did she know?

---

Nick and Sasha now sat on the couch in front of the TV on the boat, with her sitting in his lap and laying her head against his shoulder while he had his arm around her waist, one hand holding hers. She thought they just fit so perfectly together like that. She knew over the past few days she had really fallen for him. He cared for her every second. Yet they still weren't officially boyfriend-girlfriend yet.

Sasha was now used to living on the yacht. She liked living on the water. It felt like home to the diver. She had jumped off the boat to go swimming once of twice while Nick silently watched from the deck. She wasn't sure why but he just liked watching her.

It made her more happy than she would say.

---

Rick finally came back from the hospital one afternoon, telling Sasha she could come visit her mom now.

"I can?" she yelled ecstatically. Rick nodded. Nick was in the room behind her, smiling at seeing her so happy. She turned and grinned at him. "You can meet my mom now!" she said.

Nick's eyes widened and the smile dropped from his face. "What? Sasha… Are you sure?"

"Yes! She'll love you like a son. Please come." Sasha was basically begging now.

Nick finally agreed and when the others heard they wanted to come too. Sasha agreed. She was just too happy to hear that her mom would be okay that she didn't really care what she'd think of her new friends. But Sasha didn't know when she'd be able to tell her mom about Itex or the field trip. It was only more things to worry about.

---

Rick immediately had them walking through the halls of hospital. Sasha stood next to Nick, holding his hand as they walked. Jack and Tanya had stopped into the gift shop to buy some flowers. Sasha was laughing. Everything had been so tense and now everything was okay.

"Are you sure she'll be okay with this?" Nick asked Sasha, obviously nervous.

"Yes, she will be. What's wrong?" Sasha replied, glancing up at him with concerned eyes.

Nick sighed. He was scared of several things. Maybe her mom wouldn't accept him, or didn't like him, but Nick was most afraid of actually having to get to know someone's mom. He wasn't sure how to act, growing up without parents.

"It's nothing." He told Sasha and leaned down to kiss her. His lips gently brushed hers and then it all stopped.

"OH MY GOD!" a girl yelled.

Sasha and Nick broke away and turned around so see Kasandra, Sasha's friend, standing there with the most shocked and confused look on her face. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open.

"Sasha, what the heck is going on?" she snapped. "What are you doing with _him_?"

Sasha pulled her hand away from Nick's and turned to face Kasandra full-on, suddenly angry. "You don't know _anything_." She hissed. Nick took a step back, sensing a fight about to erupt that he had no possible control over.

"Oh? Well then what's going on, Miss I-went-on-a-date-with-Bobby-three-days-ago?"

"What? I don't like him. I didn't go on that date! I've been with Nick this whole time!"

"Oh yeah? Doing what? Skipping school? What's he done to you?"

Sasha drew in an angry breath. That was crossing the line. "He's my boyfriend!" she yelled, so loudly that everyone there had their attention on her. The others had stopped to watch, watching with surprised eyes. Kasandra stared at them, unable to speak for a second. Sasha continued, already raging. "You know what? Why should I even talk to you? I'm going to _die_ pretty soon anyways!"

Jack stepped forward. Sasha was about to spill everything out. "Sasha! I said we were going to _dive_ next week not _die_!" The cover-up was so flimsy that Sasha even turned to stare at him and Tanya covered a snicker.

"Whoa, hold up, what the heck is going on here? Sasha, you're dating this weird guy, and now you're going to _die_?"

Sasha growled, ignoring the question. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"I heard your mom got hurt and she was here… I came when I could. The whole school's been freaked out about you."

"Forget that! And Nick's not weird! Will you just shut up already?"

Nick, Jack and Ann began to head back to the exit. They didn't want to deal with this. Tanya tossed the flowers in the trash and Rick stood in the hallway, arms crossed as he watched and waited. Rocky waited to see what would happen. "Look, I'll shut up, okay?" Kasandra said, backing down. "I was just here to see your mom. I didn't mean to—"

"Yeah, well too late. You made them leave."

Kasandra refrained from saying it was Sasha's overreaction that had caused it.

Rocky and Tanya were walking away now. Sasha groaned and then followed them out. Maybe it wasn't time to meet her mom yet. Rick stayed inside, watching as they left.

Kasandra, sighing, hurried after her friend, apologizing. She'd been part of the overreaction. "I'm seriously sorry…" she whimpered. Sasha remained silent.

Suddenly, a car came squealing out of the parking lot, racing towards Nick, Ann and Jack as they walked across the street.

"No!" Sasha screamed as the car painfully collided with the three. Nick was shoved into another empty parking lot space, but Ann and Jack were pushed up onto the front of the car and then dumped off. Ann was tossed like a rag doll off the car and into another, head painfully colliding with each object until it smashed onto the ground. Jack had a less painful stop and was rolled off the side but just landed on the ground. The car looked like it had rolled over Nick's leg. The black car raced away.

Rocky raced to Ann's side and Tanya fell to her knees beside Jack, quickly checking for a pulse.

"Go get Rick!" Rocky commanded Kasandra, who took a second to comprehend before taking off inside.

Sasha landed hard on her knees beside Nick. "Nick! Are you alright?" She was given no reply but she knew he was breathing. His chest rose and fell softly as he lay. Relief flooded her body and she fell back to sit on the ground. He was okay.

---

Inside the hospital, Kasandra ran to Rick and grabbed his hand. Rick was shocked to feel someone- a girl- touching his hand so carelessly. It was like a shock he hadn't received in awhile. He turned to her, staring, to meet Kasandra's scared wide eyes.

"What's going on?" he asked her, gently tugging his hand away from hers. He wasn't comfortable with her hand there.

She just tightened her grip in response and replied, "A-A car… They got hurt!" was all she said before she began dragging him towards the door. Rick was able to figure out it was urgent and ran, breaking away from her.

---

Outside, Ann was awake, grabbing Rocky's hand. Her eyes were wide, but something was wrong. "Rocky… I-I can't see…" she whimpered softly.

"What?" he asked, not sure about what she was trying to say. She couldn't have hit her head _that _hard. "Rick! Come here!" Rick hurried over, bending down on the opposite side of Ann.

"Rick?" Ann asked, eyes rolling around, looking for light again.

"I'm here. What's wrong?"

"I can't see… There's nothing…" she replied softly.

Rocky glanced at Rick with a desperate look. "She must have hit her head too hard… Her sight should come back eventually. Just take it easy, Ann. Does anything else hurt?" Rick said automatically. She shook her head. Nothing really bothered her except her eyes.

---

Sasha was now helping Nick, who tried to get up. He'd definitely broken his leg. "Just lay down!" she urged.

Nick refused. "I'm fine, Sasha…" he hissed through the pain, trying to cover it up. She shook her head and sighed. He fell back to the ground, unable to move.

---

Tanya knew Jack was okay. He hadn't gotten the worst hit. He smiled weakly at her. "Just like old times?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, just like old times." Tanya agreed quietly, half-smiling.

Jack and Tanya had been friends for a long time. Years, actually. Tanya knew Jack and could read him like book.

If only she knew.

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**Okay, another chapter. I think it's okay. The fight could have been better. My smart readers should be able to figure out Jack. I'll get into more detail on him and Tanya later. I just want to keep it in the dark for now. It may have been a confusing chapter but if you review with questions I promise I will explain. Please review and even a 'Hello' is loved and welcome!**


	18. Surprise

**Well, I'd like to thank: midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight, vvvvvvvvvvv,** **Birdhearted, supergirl911, maximumtrouble10, animeluvr4lyf, MoonStarWithWings, I am Brooklyn, pepper66, Ciiirce, Wing-Kid-x0, H, Kage, rainbowriter96, mergirl007, duudezilla,** **firesilk, Minimum Ride, XXincorrectXX, rainbowriter96, firefly63**

**Thank you so much all of you! You have no idea how much just one nice review means to me! I love all of you!**

**Please tell me if there are any errors you find! I hope to get more reviews this time... Enjoy!**

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The gang was now back at the boat, resting after the episode outside the hospital. Kasandra had come with them. She was Sasha's best friend and they were as close as sisters. Kasandra had even started to get worried after the field trip and the note, since Sasha had mysteriously been disappearing. Then after learning about Nick her fears had increased. He did have quite a reputation at school and she didn't want Sasha getting sucked in.

Apparently she'd been completely wrong.

After leaving the parking lot, Nick had changed into a small housecat, discovering that in this different form he could let himself heal. "Oh, good, that feels a lot better." He meowed.

Sasha was the only one who could understand. She giggled softly and patted his head.

The cat bristled. "I hate it when people do that!"

Sasha smirked and scooped him up in her arms. The feline _mrowed! _in annoyance, but let her anyways as she carried him inside.

The others stared and shrugged. Sasha and Nick had their own interesting relationship.

But Kasandra had nearly fainted in surprise and cussed loudly, not yet knowing about the whole shape-shifting thing. They all turned and laughed.

"We'll explain later!" Tanya said. Kasandra finally got herself together and made her way inside the boat.

Rick had confirmed that Jack was fine, since he was the only one who could walk without help. Yet Ann's sight still had not returned. Everyone seemed worried except for Tanya, who just didn't take part in any concerned conversation about the problem. Jack seemed mildly disinterested too or otherwise not wanting to be a part of it.

After a half hour passed by on the yacht, Rick took another quick eye checkup on Ann, now that they were in a place that it was easier to do so. After, anyone could see that something about it was bothering him. Ann needed someone to hold her hand when she walked and hated feeling so helpless in her new condition.

Rick returned with the results. Now in the kitchen, he looked to everyone, seeming nervous as they stared back at him. "She's… She's blind." he finally managed to say.

Ann's eyes widened as she heard. Rocky glanced at her, looking even more shocked than she did.

Sasha stood, chair scratching against the floor. "I'm sorry…" she said in a hushed whispered as she turned and walked stiffly outside. Ann's blindness was her fault.

Nick stood, now able to be human again. "Sasha!" he called, going after her.

Kasandra sighed from where she was sitting on the counter. "You guys need to tell me everything about those two." She said.

Ann remained silent, still comprehending what had just been told to her. Rocky had taken her hand and she squeezed his and smiled bitterly, just glad to know he was there for her.

The others quietly began to explain. Kasandra was amazed hearing about their special abilities. "But they're together now? Uh, wow, that was very unexpected…" she said. So Nick definitely wasn't like what she thought. Soon Kasandra was completely caught up: she knew they were all orphans, why they were there, who they were. So she found she liked them.

-------

Outside, Sasha stood, looking over the water with her arms around herself. Nick stood behind her. "Sasha…" he said.

"What?" the girl snapped. "I made Ann blind. I almost got you and Jack run over. What am I supposed to say? 'Sorry?' Because sorry isn't good enough for what happened."

"It's not your fault."

"Yes it is. Just look at Ann. She won't be able to see again."

"She'll be fine! I'm worried about you."

"Don't be."

"But I am."

"Why?"

"Because I'm your boyfriend."

"That's irrelevant."

"Why?"

Sasha groaned and turned to him. "You don't understand, do you?"

"I guess I don't. Enlighten me." He'd never been so cocky with a girl.

Sasha ground her teeth together. "You're infuriating."

"You're cute when you're mad. You know that?"

"You're not helping here!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do?"

"Just shut up for five seconds!"

Nick silenced at the harsh tone in her voice. "Sasha…" the dark-haired boy murmurs. "They aren't upset with you. I'm not upset with you."

"They should be." Her voices cracks slightly. Nick steps forward. "Nick… I have… brain issues." Sasha says. Nick's eyes widen slightly, but he doesn't say anything. "My brain is deteriorating. I lose memory. I do things I don't remember the next day. I have mood swings, like today at the hospital. That's what caused you all to leave… Me. And soon… It'll get to a point when I die." She stops talking, looking down at the floor.

Nick is quiet. "How long?" he whispers.

"How long until what?"

"Until you… die."

A silent tear drips down Sasha's face. "Ten years, twenty. They didn't know. But soon."

Nick stays still before he comes forward and pulls her into an embrace. Sasha gasps slightly. "Then we'll make it last." Her boyfriend says. She nods into his shoulder. "You shouldn't be so sad. I have a heart problem Rick and Tanya have to keep a close eye on me because of it. We're on the same boat, Sasha."

The brown-haired girl looks up at him. "Really?"

Nick nods. "Don't worry, Sasha…. We're still the same. And I still love you."

Sasha smiles. Neither speaks for a few seconds. "I still need to go home and get a few things."

He nods. "Alright. Now?"

"Yes."

He sighs and pulls away, shifting in a housecat again.

Sasha grins. "I still think you're adorable like that."

Nick pretends to be annoyed, hissing softly, but he actually liked hearing that. Together they walk off the boat docks and onto the street towards her house, not bothering to let the others know. They don't speak, just walk. It seemed too awkward to talk now. Nick walks right beside his girlfriend, protectively.

After a few silent minutes of walking they reach her house. They don't notice the unfamiliar black car parked in the driveway. Sasha hesitantly opens the front door, sighing with relief as she found that her mom's blood still wasn't all over the floor. Nick shifts to being human again, sensing that it's safe enough.

It wasn't.

As Sasha entered the dining room, she gasped, nearly faintly. A man sat there, looking slightly impatient. As stack of files sat on the table in front of him. "Oh, Sasha, it's nice to see you again." The light-brown hair man says, voice smooth.

Sasha swallows as Nick puts his arm around her waist. "I don't think we've met before." The teen manages to say.

The suited man nods. "Well, that's okay then. Oh, hello, Nick."

Nick's face remains impassive as he glares at the intruder. "Who are you?" he growls.

"My name is Ray Burns." The man answers. "I think we'll be getting to know each other well." He puts his hand on top of the stack of files and slides it over to Nick and Sasha. "I should tell you this, though: I know everything about who you are, why you are here, what's happened to you in the past week, and what's going to happen to you."

Nick and Sasha stare. Sasha speaks up. "Do you even know--"

Ray cuts them off. "That you're both genetically advanced human hybrids? Yes, I know that too. And so does your mother, Sasha. Take a look at some of those files. They will tell you everything you don't know and everything you need to know. You will find some very interesting information about yourselves, too."

Sasha stands still as Nick reaches for the top file. "How does she know?" the teen asks softly.

Ray sighs. "You may not like to hear these things."

"I need to know."

"Look at the files."

Sasha glares and takes another file. It's named 'Itex'. She puts it aside, looking for something else more important. Leafing through, she spots a surprise. 'Katie Cortez.' One of the tabs says. Katie was Sasha's sister who had died four years ago. Sasha grabs the file and flips through it, eyes searching. It was the same information she'd heard: the car crash that killed her, the man who did it. Sasha stops reading. That had been the cover up story, she read on a Post-It to the side of the page. She glances up at Ray. "What is this?" she snaps icily.

"It's the truth, Sasha." Ray answers.

Nick is silent as he looks at another file about himself. He'd just read he'd been separated when he was young from his twin brother, Brad, who lived in Florida, too. He never knew he had a twin brother. He then reads that his parents had been killed in a car crash, but that wasn't anywhere near the truth. He glares up at Ray. "What other truths don't we know?"

Ray sighs. "Listen. Nick, your parents, and Sasha, your mother, and I have worked with a secret organization, called the Company for a very long time. We work against an organization labeled Itex. We know that Itex has, against many laws, mutated you and Nick. You know all those business trips your mother used to take to many places? They weren't actual business trips. They were trips working with the Company. Nick, you already know this, but your parents weren't actually killed in a car crash. They were killed by something else. I'm sure you remember the Erasers, right?"

Nick nods, violent memories flashing in his head of his parent's death.

Ray continues on. "Sasha, the same happened to your dad and Katie. The car crash story is a basic cover-up the Company uses."

Sasha was looking at the floor. "My mom lied to me… Everything she's ever told me is wrong." She said, voice cracking as she turns and runs outside to the beach.

Nick glances at Ray, still glaring. "Well, I got to go. That was all I needed to tell you. You can keep the files." Ray says, standing up.

Nick then turns and runs out to Sasha to find her sitting on the sand near the water. Her hands were wrapped around her knees and her eyes were distant. Nick sits beside her, not saying anything as he looks out onto the water.

She was thinking. Her mom had been everything to her. Now all those happy memories seemed to crumble suddenly under the news.

Nick decides to speak. "Did you know I'm actually 20?" Sasha sits up, a little surprised, but doesn't look at him. "Yeah, I know, it's weird. No one ever seemed to notice though. We've both been living a bit of a lie lately, don't you think?" he sighs. "It'll be okay, Sasha. We'll talk to your mom. I'm sure she has reason for it. I just want you to be safe."

Sasha looks at him and scoots over to him. He wraps an arm around her as she lays her head on his shoulder. He holds her for a few seconds before she pulls away. "Let's go inside." The girl murmurs. The two stand, and hand in hand, walk inside.

Nick takes out his phone once they're standing next to the table beside the files. Ray was gone. "I'm going to call Rocky to go check on your mom. I don't want anything else happening to her."

Sasha finally smiles. "Thanks."

The phone call is made, and Rocky promises to go to the hospital. Nick and Sasha continue to leaf through the large stack of files, until the phone rings again about ten minutes later. "Hello?" Nick answers hesitantly.

Rocky was calling. "It's her mom! She's gone! Someone took her!" he said, about to begin explaing what he'd seen.

Nick could've dropped the phone. Linda Cortez was kidnapped. "Sasha…" he turns to his girlfriend, lowering the phone for a moment, his voice low and sad. "You're mom's been taken."

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**Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I've been busy. Please tell me if there are mistakes or things missing! So, if you have any questions, comments, complaints, wants, needs, requests or demands please press the review button and I'll be sure to get back to you. Please review and even a 'Hello' is loved and welcome!**


	19. Forgetful

**Well, I'd like to thank: midnightshadowwings, aviator301/The Aviator**, **MetalMyersJason, maxtwin15, Jacky06, IGGY n' FANG FAN, redfeatherz, avikar, Bellaness, I-LIVE-4-MAX-RIDE-AND-TWILIGHT, kaylormonkey, Griffon's Flight, vvvvvvvvvvv,** **Birdhearted, supergirl911, maximumtrouble10, animeluvr4lyf, MoonStarWithWings, I am Brooklyn, pepper66, Ciiirce, Wing-Kid-x0, H, Kage, rainbowriter96, mergirl007, duudezilla,** **firesilk, Minimum Ride, XXincorrectXX, rainbowriter96, firefly63**

**Thank you so much all of you! You have no idea how much just one nice review means to me! I love all of you!**

**I HAVE NOT UPDATED IN A LONGGG TIME!! I just got back to this over the year... I think I just felt like writing stuff again. This was just a total experiment for me... so yeah. Wellll... Here ya go.**

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Sasha goes weak at the knees. "No…" she gasps, putting her hand on the counter for support. Nick stepped over and slid his arm around her waist. "Nick, we need to go find her…"

Nick nodded and told Rocky to go back to the boat to tell them what he saw. He hung up the phone and looked at Sasha. "Let's go back to the boat."

They were soon climbing the stairs from the docks and hurried onto the deck of the boat. Rocky was already there with the others, who looked worried. Kasandra's face was pale.

"What happened, Rocky?" Nick asks immediately after they're inside.

Rocky sighs. "She was just... gone. None of the doctors knew until I told them and they freaked. There's police all over the place now."

Sasha shifts her eyes nervously. "So you think she's… dead?"

Rocky looks away and reached into his pocket for something. He takes out a small folded piece of paper and hands it to her. The worried teen snatched it and walked outside to the railing, her head beginning to hurt. Nothing made sense anymore. Everything was a series of coincidences or just problems. She didn't understand anything now. She opens the piece of paper, brushing her hair out of her eyes. Linda Cortez's familiar sleek cursive was scribbled onto the paper.

The words didn't have time to fully register in her mind as she promptly fainted, her head banging against the railing and the note floating down into the water.

Nick sensed something was wrong and ran out to see his almost-girlfriend lying on the ground. "Sasha!" he gasped, getting on his knees and lifting her up. The rest of the gang followed out the door.

Kasandra looked shocked and worried. "Nick…" she knew something he didn't.

"What?" he said gruffly, not looking at her, his worried eyes on Sasha. "She told you, right? That she loses memory. She's almost… an amnesiac… She wasn't careful enough."

"What are you trying to say?"

"She could have lost something. Her memories."

Nick's breathing sped up.

Rick stepped forward, sensing a problem. Nick swiftly handed Sasha's limp body to him and took off onto the docks and to the street. Kasandra crossed her arms and looked out to the sea. Wow, what a great way to tell Nick his girlfriend my have forgotten him.

An hour or so later, Nick was back on the boat after Rocky had gone out and dragged him back. They weren't talking now. Nick was visibly annoyed about that, but under his mostly emotionless surface he was worried. Sasha lay in one of the rooms, resting on one of the beds until she regained consciousness. Nick would occasionally stand up and go look at her, just to see her. A day passed. Rocky could have sworn he'd seen Nick go stay with Sasha in the room throughout the night, not even sleeping. But she finally awoke in the afternoon.

Kasandra had been there, clearly moping about some subject, when Sasha's eyes blinked. Kasandra jumped and gave a small scream. Nick was first to the room, immediately at Sasha's side looking down intently at her.

"Wh... What's going on?" She mumbled, sitting up and running her fingers through her tangled hair.

"You hit your head." Nick said softly.

Sasha jumped, seeing him there. "What the heck are you doing here? Nick Shadows?" She spat.

Kasandra groaned. It was true. Sasha had totally forgotten him.

Nick's eyes widened. "No…" He stands and runs out of the room, nearly knocking over Ann as he pushes her away from the door. The guy ran out again, clearly determined to do something this time. Rocky and Rick saw and quickly headed to the room to see Kasandra softly talking to a wide-eyed Sasha, who was completely puzzled to see all the new faces. Eventually, they were all introduced to her and slowly fed Sasha the events of the past few weeks. They left out the details about Nick, even though she kept asking why he'd been there.

"Why was he here?" she demanded to know.

Rocky spilled. "Both of you are genetically changed human hybrids. You can do things with water, and him with land. Oh, and you can shape shift."

"Nice way to break it to her, Rocky. And I didn't know you could talk like that." Tanya muttered. He shot her a glare. Rick pulled him out of the room quickly to go take care of something.

Jack sighed. "He's probably doing something for you right now."

"Why?" Sasha asked again.

"Because he loved you." Jack spoke up.

Silence followed as Sasha's eyes turned wider than they already were. "What?" she said, incredulous. "But he's—"

A school loner who just happened to be really cute but wouldn't talk to anyone? Apparently we were wrong." Kasandra cuts in.

"Well, where is he now?"

"Rocky and Rick just took off after him. He took the car and he's going somewhere." Ann replied glumly, who couldn't help but feel slightly miserable in her situation. She somehow on her own managed to leave her room and head outside to the deck. She needed to make a phone call. While the others were still inside talking to Sasha, she dialed someone's number. "Brad?" she said when the person answered. "I think it's time you finally met your brother."

Downstairs, the others had gotten a phone call from Rocky. "We're following him. He's heading towards where those scientists took Sasha last time." Everyone, except for Sasha and Kasandra, knew that Nick was doing something stupid for Sasha.

Nick was only a boy, a total fool, but he couldn't take it any longer. He was part of the reason for ruining Sasha's life. He couldn't bear it.

He needed to destroy them.

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**I guess I'm going to continue this... Let's see how it goes. Hopefully my writing has improved slightly. I'll be able to see it in the next chapters, when I get around to writing them. So... Please review!**


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